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THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS 

OF 

Daniel and the Revelation 

AN IDENTIFICATION OF THE TIMES AND 

EVENTS REFERRED TO IN 

PROPHECY 

TOGETHER WITH 

COINCIDENT FACTS RESPECTING THE 

GREAT PYRAMID OF EGYPT 

AND THE APPROACHING 

PLANETARY PERIHELIA 

BY JOHN COLLOM 



" For I am God, and there is none else, I am God and there is none like 
me, declaring- the end from the beginning-, and from ancient times the things 
that are not yet done." Isaiah xlvi. 9, 10. 

. i 

CHICAGO 
PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR BY 

WILSON & JONES BOOK PUBLISHERS 

188 MONROE STREET 
1880 



? 



Si 






Entered according- to Act of Congress, in the year 1880, by 

JOHN COLLOM, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



PREFACE. 



The prophetic Scriptures constitute a pre-written history of 
the Christian age. Without understanding the obscure lan- 
guage of the prophecies men have recorded the events that have 
transpired. In this work the Author has endeavored to adapt 
to the pre-written divine history the post-written human his- 
tory, and, by the prophetic numbers, to prove the correct- 
ive :S of the adaptation. 

.This work is intended for the general reader rather than for 
the learned and critical. It is designed to display the wisdom 
of God, not the wisdom or learning of the writer ; and it is 
hoped that the lover of truth will not disregard the divine gold 
because wrought by an unskilled hand, or object to the present 
exposition of the prophetic numbers because in the main (as 
far as the Author knew) it differs from that of all other writers. 

For the benefit of those without extensive libraries the his- 
tory is quoted in full, and the authorities are given. 

The wonderful significance of the Great Pyramid and plane- 
tary perihelia, which is noticed in chapters xix. and xx., fully 
accords with the deductions drawn from the prophecies respect- 
ing the final outcome of the present age, which, though contrary 
to his former opinions, the Author has finally reached after 
two years constant study of the subject, undertaken from a 
sense of imperative duty. 

THE AUTHOR. 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE, 

Showing the Dates at which the several Seals, Trumpets, and 
Plagues, begin and end. 



SEALS. 


TRUMPETS. 


PLAGUES. 


1. A. D. 33-66. 


1. A. D. 337-361. 


1. A. D. 1555-1579. 


The White Horse. 


On the Land. 


On the Land. 


2. A. D, 66-138. 


2. A. D. 364-476. 


2. A. D. 1579-1718. 


The Red Horse. 


On the Sea. 


On the Sea. 


3. A. D. 138-180. 
The Black Horse. 


3. A. D. 473-534. 
On the Rivers. 


3. A. D. 1718-1776. 

On the Rivers. 




4. A. D. 534-573. 


4. A. D. 1776-1815. 


4. A. D. 180-250. 


On the Sun. 


On the Sun. 


The Pale Horse. 








5. A. D. 554-1076. 


5. A. D. 1796-1874. 


5. A. D. 250-313. 


Rise of the B a ast. 


On the Beast. 


Souls under the 


Tiie Saracen Woe. 


6. A. D. 1874-1883. 


altar. 


6. A. I). 1076 3*55. 


On the Euphrates 


6. A. D. 313-337. 


The Turkish Woe. 


7. A. D. 1883-1923. 


Great Earthquake 


7. A. D. 1555-1923. 


Armageddon. 


7. A. D. 337-1550. 


Protestant Woe. 


The consumma- 


Prospective of the 


Prospective of the 


tion of that deter- 


Seven Trumpets. 


Seven Plagues. 


mined upon. 



See page 197. 



CONTENTS. 



Preface iii. 

A Chronological Table, showing the dates at which the seals, 
trumpets and plagues begin and end iv 

A Table showing the pages on which coincidental measure- 
ments are made with the several prophetic numbers. 4ix> 

A Chronological Table showing the date and page of the events 
indicated by the prophetic numbers, and the Great Pyramid 
of Egypt . . . 464-7 

CHAPTER I. 

THE INTRODUCTION. 

Author's purpose and general outline 9-16 

CHAPTER II. 

THE UNIVERSAL EMPIRES. 

The Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Macedo-Grecian, Roman and 
Christian empires 17-26 

CHAPTER III. 

THE SEVENTY WEEKS. 

The three-fold decree. Application of the time. . . 27-38 
CHAPTER IV. 

THE SEVEN SEALS. 

By whom, how and when opened. Meaning of the symbols. 

39-54 



VI. CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER V. 

THE WOMAN CLOTHED WITH THE SUN. 

The woman the Church of Christ. Her child Constantine I. 
A period of time indicated. A clue to the great mystery. 55-65 

CHAPTER VI. 

THF FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS. 

The first trumpet relates to Constantine's dynasty. The second 
to the Barbarian invasions. The third to Arian persecutions. 
The fourth to the Gothic monarchy 63-84 

CHAPTER VII. 

THE TEN-HORNED BEAST. 

Imperial Christianity. Its ten horns 85-88 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE TWO-HORNED BEAST. 

The Beast the Papacy. Plucks up the Heruli, the Vandals and 
the Ostrogoths. "Six hundred and sixty-six." . . 89-100 

CHAPTER IX. 

THE FIFTH TRUMPET— THE FIRST WOE. 

Fall of Bishops of Rome. Gregory's keys. Purgatory opened. 
Saracens the locusts. Saracen conquests. . . 101-125 

CHAPTER X. 

THE SIXTH TRUMPET — THE SECOND WOE. 

The four Turkish Sultanies. Jerusalem taken. The crusades. 
The Byzantine empire destroyed 126-134 

CHAPTER XL 

THE TWO WITNESSES. 

Reed like a rod. Corruption of Christianity. Constantine T. 
The Paulicians. Innocent III. King John. The Francis- 
cans and Dominicans. Persecution of the Jews. Slaughter 
of the "Waldenses. Dawn of the Reformation. Measure- 
ments 135-193 



CONTENTS. Vll. 

CHAPTER XII. 

THE SEVENTH TRUMPET— THE THIRD WOE. 

An outline of the seven plagues. Relation of the seals, trum- 
pets and plagues, and of different prophecies: . 194-1101 

CHAPTER XIII. 

THE FIRST PLAGUE. 

Judgment given to the saints. Fall of Charles V. Edicts of 
Milan and Augsburg. Solyman II. St. Bartholomew's day. 
Duke of Alva. The Inquisition 202-221 

CHAPTER XIY. 

THE SECOND PLAGUE. 

The literal and figurative seas. Thirty years' war. Spanish 
Armada. Quadruple Alliance. The Puritans. The May- 
flower. Coincidental measurements. . . 222-241 

CHAPTER XV. 

THE THIRD PLAGUE. 

Fountains and rivers. Colonial wars between England and 
France, Spain and Holland. The Dragon's rivers swallowed 
up. Declaration of Independence. Methodists. 242-255. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

THE FOURTH PLAGUE. 

France the sun. Nebuchadnezzar's image — Declaration of In- 
dependence the Stone. The French Revolution. The Rus- 
sian campaign. Battle of Waterloo. Important coincidental 
measurements 256-275 

CHAPTER XVII. 

THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 

Bonaparte invades the Pope's dominions. Papal States an- 
nexed to French empire. Measurements. Revolutions in 
Europe. The Pope's temporal power abolished. Coincidental 
measurements. Franco-Prussian war. Jesuits. Vatican 
Council. The Beast is slain and his body destroyed. 276-312 



Vlll. CONTENTS. 

CHAFTEE XYIII. 

THE SIXTH PLAGUE. 

The river Euphrates. War in Turkey. The Berlin and Anglo- 
Turkish treaties. Coincidental measurements. Three un- 
clean spirits. Communists, Socialists and Nihilists. 313-332 

CHAPTEE XIX. 

THE SEVENTH PLAGUE. 

Scripture testimony. The Planetary Perihelia. The Great 
Pyramid. Probable events. The harvest of the earth near. 
The fate of Eussia. Recovery of Israel. . . 833-3-52 

CHAPTEE XX. 

THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE WORLD. 

Plan of man's redemption. The true Christ, the Imperial 
Antichrist, the Papal Antichrist, and the true Church of 
Christ, all unmistakably identified by numbers. Preparation 
of guides. Inspection of past 1 istory. Exploration of the 
mysterious future. The glorious consummation. . 353-462 



THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS 

or 

DANIEL AND THE REVELATION. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE INTEODUCTIOIS". 

; 'For the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the 
weakness of God is stronger than men, .... but God has 
chosen the foolish things of the world that He may bring to 
shame the wise; and the weak things of the world has God 
chosen that He may put to shame the strong; and the ignoble 
things of the world, and the things that are despised, has God 
chosen, and the things that are not, that He may bring to 
naught things that are; that no flesh should glory in his pres- 
ence. He that glories, let him glory in the Lord." 1 Cor. i. 
2-5-31. 

The author of the following pages is not a theo- 
logian, historian, or a chronologist, but a mining 
engineer, who has been engaged during thirty 
years in mining, assaying and reducing ores of 
gold, silver and other metals; but, as 



10 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

"Wisdom to silver I prefer, 
And gold is dross compared with her." 

"I've been digging deep for treasures, 

Within the gospel field, 
Whose mine is rich, and ever 

Will glorious treasures yield." 

And as "the Lord, who knoweth the hearts of 
all men," has enabled a layman, brother D. L. 
Moody, to accomplish a work such as probably no 
other man in this generation has done, so may 
He in His providence eimble His un worthier 
servant to contribute a mite of service to the 
good of men, by digging up for them some golden 
grains of eternal truth, that may have been "hid 
from the wise and prudent," to be placed upon 
the balances of impartial judgment, to counter- 
poise the unbelief and "philosophy and vain de- 
ceit" of men of the present age, who say, "Where 
is the promise of his coming?" that these, being 
"weighed in the balances and found wanting," 
may be rejected, and give place to those who 
have a greater recognition of the providence and 
authority of God, and more love for His word 
and service. 

"For I am God, and there is none else, I am God 
and there is none like me, declaring the end 
from the beginning, and from ancient times the 
things that are not yet done." Isa. xlvi. 9. 10. 



THE INTRODUCTION. 11 

In the prophecies of the Bible, we have an in- 
spired Programme of Earth! $ Drama, the Contents 
of the Booh of Time, and in subsequent history 
we have a record of the corresponding acts and 
events so far as they have transpired. Hence it 
would seem an easy task to designate the identi- 
cal events to which the several prophecies allude. 
This has in some cases been properly done ; but 
the conflicting opinions of those who have writ- 
ten on many of the prophecies in the past, indi- 
cate that the seals were not all removed. 

Again, in the prophecies, which are ^n Atlas of 
the world, a map of the kingdom of heaven, a 
plat of the field in which the Son of Man sowed 
the good seed, and the devil sowed the tares, 
(Matt. xiii. ), we have not only a delineation of the 
various plants that should grow, but also the 
time and place of their production ; for by the 
prophetic numbers of Daniel and John, the 
Omniscient has specified the exact time of the 
rise, growth, decay and extinction of the formid- 
able systems of error, or tares, that have prevailed 
in the kingdom of heaven, or gospel dispensation. 
So that, when we properly understand our sub- 
ject, we shall find an exact fulfilment of the 
prophecies in corresponding times, places, persons 
and circumstances, and be able to prove the cor- 



12 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

rectness of our conclusions by the simple, yet in- 
flexible rules of arithmetic. 

Those parts of the prophecy of Daniel which 
relate to the Israelites after their last dispersion 
from Palestine, were to be closed up and sealed 
during the present dispensation, and to be un- 
sealed "at the time of the end" (Dan. xii. 9), "in 
the last end of the indignation" (Dan. viii. 19), or 
towards the termination of the " seven plagues, 
which are the last; for by them the wrath of 
God is brought to an end " (Rev. xv. 1), when Is- 
rael's captivity and Antichrist's reign shall 
cease. But John's prophecy, relating mainly to 
"the times of the Gentiles," was to remain un- 
sealed, for to John it was said : " Seal not the 
words of the prophecy of this book; for the time 
is at hand." Rev. xxii. 10. 

Daniel's prophecy and prophetic numbers per- 
tain to the condition of the Jews during two peri- 
ods, — the first extending from Daniel's time to 
the crucifixion of Christ, the institution of the 
Christian church, and the destruction of Jerusa- 
lem; and the last to " the time of the end," dur- 
ing which Israel's enemies shall be destroyed, the 
dispersed sons of Jacob restored to the land of 
their fathers, and " the saints of the Most Higli 
shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom 



THE INTRODUCTION. 13 

for ever, even for ever and ever" (Dan. vii. 18), 
Vviiile John's numbers apply to the intervening 
period, " the times of the Gentiles," and mark the 
rise, reign and ruin of the Dragon, Beast and 
False Prophet, or Imperialism, Clericalism and 
Islamism. 

"The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of proph- 
ecy," or, the spirit of prophecy, the ability to 
foretell future events, is the great standing evi- 
dence and testimony of the divinity of Christ, 
the authenticity of the Bible, and the divine ori- 
gin of Christianity. In the time of Christ and 
His Apostles, the subjects of their ministry being 
comparatively ignorant and superstitious, mir- 
acles were employed to arrest attention and in- 
cite faith, and in succeeding ages, the same mir- 
acles have constituted an important factor in the 
foundation of the faith of believers. But "in 
the last days," when, "because iniquity abounds, 
the love of many shall grow cold," a knowledge 
of the fulfilment of "the sure words of prophecy" 
will be necessary to check the growth of skepti- 
cism and irreligion, and strengthen the wavering 
faith of the tempted and persecuted Christian. 

To Daniel the angel said, " Go thy way, Daniel: 
for the words are closed up and sealed till the 
time of the end." Dan. xii. 9. Therefore, be- 



14 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

lieving that many of the prophecies were not to 
be understood in former times, an explanation of 
their meaning will not be sought among "the 
traditions of the elders ; " but, grouping together 
the scriptures thought to relate to particular 
periods, an attempt will be made to find in mod- 
ern history the events to which the prophecies 
allude. 

And we will endeavor to find, and show, the 
landmarks and monuments that Palmoni, the 
wonderful numberer, (Dan. viii. 13, Margin) Ga- 
briel, and other heavenly surveyors have set up 
all along the ages; to view and estimate things in 
the light of the divine word, and not as seen 
through the colored spectacles of our own or 
others' theories and prejudices; to correctly read 
the delineations of character that the Alwise has 
written in His chart of the several monsters that 
were to devastate the earth; and to learn and re- 
veal their terrible nature and awful doom, that 
men may be induced to hear and obey the voice 
that now thunders from heaven: "If any one 
worship the beast and his image, and receive his 
mark in his forehead, or in his hand, even he 
shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, 
which is prepared without mixture in the cup of 
His indignation; and he shall be tormented with 



THE IOTBODTTCTIOIN". 15 

fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy 
angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and the 
smoke of their torment ascends from age to age; 
and they who worship the beast and his image, 
and whoever receives the mark of his name, have 
.no rest day or night;" (Rev. xiv. 9-11), and " Come 
out of her, my people, lest yon become partakers 
of her sins, and lest yon receive of her plagues. 
For her sins reach even to heaven, and God has 
remembered her iniquities." Rev. xviii. 4-5. 

The present volume is not intended to give an 
explanation of all the prophecies of the Bible, 
nor even of all the points of those predictions 
that may be noticed; but especially to indicate 
the events which seem to mark the beginning 
and the ending of the prophetic periods mention- 
ed in the Prophecy of Daniel, and the Revelation 
of St. John. 

The quotations of New Testament scripture 
will be mostly from H. T. Anderson's Transla- 
tion, as in this work the sense is clothed in fam- 
iliar modern English. 

"Blessed is he that reads, and those who hear 
the words of this prophecy, and keep the things 
that are written in it." Rev. i. 3. 

Here is an especial blessing pronounced upon 
those who study and endeavor to unravel the 



16 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

mysteries of the Revelation ; and the hope that 
he may receive this blessing, and prompt others 
to obtain the same, has induced the writer to de- 
vote such attention to a consideration of the 
present subject as he has been accustomed to be- 
stow upon the mechanical and chemical matters 
pertaining to his business, and with the further 
design of glorifying God, and pointing men to 
Him who can save them "from the wrath to 
come." 



CHAPTER n. 

THE UNIVERSAL EMPIRES. 

" Thou, O King, sawest and behold a great image. This great 
image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee, and 
the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine 
gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs 
of brass, his legs of iron, and his feet part of iron and part of 
clay . . Tins is the dream ; and we will tell the interpretation 
thereof before the king. Thou, O King, (Nebuchadnezzar, 
king of Babylon) art a king of kings. . . . Thou art this head 
of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior 
to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear 
rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be -as 
strong as iron. . . . And the toes of the feet were part of iron,' 
and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and 
partly broken. ... In the days of these kings shall the God of 
heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and 
the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break 
in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand 
forever." Dan. ii. 

In Daniel's interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's 
dream, we have, as it were, a photograph of the 
mind of the Omniscient in relation to the then 
future of this world, showing the successive rise 
and fall of the several great earth-powers, with 
systems of human government, in which might 
makes right, the strong oppress the weak, and 
despots, tyrants and fanatics fill the world with 



18 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

woe, and drench the earth with human blood. 
But the dark picture is relieved by the fact that 
the despotism becomes less and less severe, as is 
indicated by the lighter metals succeeding the 
heavier, until the dawn of the righteous reign of 
the Prince of Peace, whose "yoke is easy," and 
whose "burden is light." 

The following excellent verification of this 
prophecy by historical events is from " Willson's 
Outlines of History," University Edition, p. 733- 
737. 

THE FIRST KINGDOM. 

" The head of the compound image which Neb- 
uchadnezzar saw was of gold, and Daniel declared 
that this head of gold represented "the first 
kingdom, or that of the Babylonians" of which 
Nebuchadnezzar was the monarch. In the first 
vision of the prophet the same kingdom is repre- 
sented by "the first beast, which resembled a 
lion with eagle's wings," — expressing the fierce- 
ness and rapidity of Nebuchadnezzar, the found- 
er of the Babylonian empire. Jeremiah had be- 
fore represented him as a "lion from the north 
that should make Judea desolate," (Jer. iv. 6, 7), 
and as "an eagle spreading its wings of destruc- 
tion over Moab; (Jer. xlviii. 40); but at the time 
of Daniel's vision "its wings were plucked," for 



THE UNIVERSAL EMPIRES. 19 

its career was checked by the victorious arms and 
encroachments of Cyrus the Persian. It might 
be alleged that this interpretation of the "head 
of gold" as being symbolical of a kingdom al- 
ready in existence, is not prophetic. Viewed as 
standing alone it might not be deemed so, except 
as it is supported by the prophecies of previous 
writers; but it is the first in the series of the four 
prophetic kingdoms, and, therefore, an important 
link in the chain of testimony. The first king- 
dom found mankind in no state of cohesion — a 
vast number of petty tribes bound together by 
no ties of national affinity, religion, language 
or manners— and in proportion to its expansion, 
its intensity was weakened, and felt only around 
the person of the monarch. Having the imper- 
fection of an elementary state of civilization, and 
of a first experiment, and being corrupted by the 
vice of luxurious effeminacy, it fell an easy prey 
to the then hardy and enterprising Persians. 

THE SECOND KINGDOM. 

In the interpretation of the dream of Nebu- 
chadnezzar, the prophet declared that after the 
first king (or kingdom) should arise another 
kingdom (Dan. ii. 32, 39), which was represented 
by the breast arid arms of the image, which were 



20 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

of silver. Here is a prophetic declaration be- 
lieved to refer to the Medo-Persian kingdom, 
which lasted two hundred and ^.ve years, from 
the capture of Babylon by Cyrus (B. C. 536) to 
the battle of Arbela (B. C. 331). As to the appro- 
priateness of the symbols representing this king- 
dom, it may be mentioned that the arms and 
shields of the Medes and Persians were frequent- 
ly cased with silver; wherefore Alexander, after 
the conquest of Persia, adopting the customs of 
the conquered nations, instituted a body of in- 
fantry which he called the " Silver Shields.'''' In 
the first vision of Daniel the same kingdom is 
represented by the second beast, a bear with 
three ribs in its mouth; (Dan. vii. 5;) and in the 
second vision by a ram, (Dan. vii. 3,) the figure of 
which, it is known, became, after the time of 
Daniel, the armorial ensign of the Persian em- 
pire. Moreover, in the vision, Daniel saw that 
the ram had two horns, and that "the one which 
came up last was higher than the other," — the 
lower horn believed to be the Median power, and 
the higher one the Persian, for these two powers 
constituted the Medo-Persian empire. It is an 
interesting fact that ram's heads, with unequal 
horns, one higher than the other, are still to be 
seen on the ruined pillars of Persepolis. More- 



THE UNIVERSAL EMPIRES. 21 

over, Daniel "saw the ram (that is, the Medo 
Persian Empire) pushing westward, and north- 
ward, and southward." Dan. viii. 4. History 
verifies the interpretation, for in this exact order 
were Lydia, Babylonia and Egypt, (represented 
in the first vision, Dan. vii. 5, by three ribs in 
the bear's mouth,) subdued by Cyrus and his 
successor, Cambyses. The second kingdom, more 
powerful than the first, but, like it, held together 
by the feeblest bonds of union, — owed its fall, 
after an existence of two centuries, more to the 
crimes of its monarchs, the mal-administrationof 
government, and the repeated disputes and wars 
for succession, than to the small but highly ef- 
fective force brought against it. 

THE THIRD KINGDOM. 

The third division of the compound image 
which Nebuchadnezzar saw (Dan. ii. 32, 39) was 
the "belly and thighs of brass," explained with 
great historical minuteness, as denoting the 
Ma cedo- Grecian kingdom of Alexander and his 
successors. The Greeks usually wore brazen ar- 
mor, whence Homer calls them the "brazen-cors- 
let Grecians''' In the first vision of Daniel the 
same kingdom is represented by the third beast 
— a leopard with two pair of wings and four 



22 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

heads— the wings aptly denoting the rapidity of 
the conquests of Alexander; and the four heads 
the four kingdoms, Macedon, Thrace, Syria and 
Egypt, into which the empire of Alexander was 
divided among his generals. In the second vision 
of the prophet the same Macedo- Grecian king- 
dom is represented by u a he-goat that came from 
the west (Macedonia), and touched not the 
ground " for swiftness. "And the he-goat had a 
notable horn between his eyes" (Alexander the 
Great), and "he ran at the ram" (Darius the Per- 
sian), "and smote him, and cast him on the 
ground." But when "the he-goat waxed very 
great, the great horn was broken," (Alexander's 
death), "and in its place came up four notable 
ones towards the four winds of heaven. (Alexan- 
der's four successors, among whom his kingdom 
was divided). But this part of the second vision 
is interpreted to Daniel with all the distinctness 
with which the history could have been written 
after the events had transpired. For Daniel was 
told (Dan. viii. 20-22): "The ram which thou raw- 
est having two horns are the kings (or kingdoms) 
of Media and Persia. And the rough goat is the 
king (or kingdom) of Grecia; and the great horn 
between his eyes is the first king (Alexander). 
Now, that being broken, whereas four rose in its 



THE UNIVERSAL EMPIRES. 23 

stead, four kingdoms shall arise out of the na- 
tion, but not in his power"— that is, not of the 
family of Alexander. In the fourth vision of the 
prophet the same historical truths are presented 
with similar explicitness in the second, third and 
fourth verses of the eleventh chapter of Daniel, 
with the additional notice that a certain king of 
Persia (Darius Codomannus) should stir up the 
whole empire for an invasion of "the realm of 
Grecian The prophecy respecting the Third or 
"Macedo-Grecian" kingdom, is so distinct, and so 
minute in its details, and the historical verifica- 
tion so perfect, that no candid mind will attri- 
bute the coincidence to chance or accident. 

THE FOURTH KINGDOM. 

The fourth division of the image which Nebu- 
chadnezzar saw, and which Daniel declared to 
represent the fourth kingdom, was " the legs of 
iron, and the feet part of iron and part of clay." 
Dan. ii. 33. This is believed to denote the Ro- 
man dominion, which reached its full reign about 
the time of the conquests of Macedon, Greece and 
Carthage, when the republic, under consular 
government, was the strongest, as represented by 
the " legs of iron." Rome, the " Mistress of Na- 
tions," the " Mother of Empires," was the great- 



24 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

est monarchy the world has ever known. It con- 
tinned in the full tide of prosperity until the con- 
quest of Egypt, (B. C. 30,) after which it gradually 
declined under the monarchy ; the partition of 
the empire into Eastern and Western greatly 
weakened it, and it gradually sank under the 
repeated invasions of the Gothic and Vandal 
tribes, and was finally broken into ten kingdoms, 
as represented by the ten toes of the image. 
Daniel says : u As the toes of the feet were part 
of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be 
partly strong and partly broken." Dan. ii. 42. 
In the first vision of Daniel the same kingdom is 
represented by the fourth beast, which was 
"dreadful, and terrible, and strong exceedingly ; 
and it had great iron teeth ; it devoured and 
broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with the 
feet of it ; and it was diverse from all the beasts 
that were before it, and it had ten horns." Dan. 
vii. 7. Here the Roman power and progress are 
aptly represented. It was the strength of the 
four kingdoms, its very name (Ro-me) being the 
Grecian term for strength, and it broke in pieces 
and devoured the previous three kingdoms ; and 
the residue (the western provinces of the Roman 
empire — Spain, Gaul, etc.) it " trampled upon 
with the feet of it." And as in the first vision of 



THE U:NTVER3AL EMPIRES. 25 

Daniel, the first three kingdoms had been repre- 
sented by a lion, a bear and a leopard, (Dan. vii.) 
so St. John, in the Revelation, (Rev. xiii. 1, 2,) des- 
cribes the form of the fourth beast (or kingdom) 
as being compounded of all the- rest, having "the 
body of the leopard, the feet of the bear, and the 
mouth of the lion ;" and thus the Roman empire 
embraced the territories of the preceding em- 
pires. In the second vision of Daniel the fourth 
kingdom is represented by "a little horn" springing 
up from one (the western, or Macedonian) of the 
four heads (or kingdoms) into which the empire 
of Alexander had been divided. The progress of 
the Roman power ishere geographically described 
also ; for this little horn waxed exceedingly great 
towards the south, (Sicily and Africa,) and to- 
wards the east, (Macedon, Greece, and Syria,) 
and towards the pleasant land, (Judea.) 

Thus, as marked out by prophecy, four times 
have the nations of the earth gathered them- 
selves into mighty aggregates of power, denoted 
Universal Empires, or Monarchies; none like 
went before, and none like have come after them; 
and it is upon the warrant of negative scripture 
testimony that men believe no other temporal 
universal empire possible. But still the dream 
of Nebuchadnezzar, and the interpretation of the 



26 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

prophet, point to a fifth monarchy greater than 
all the others, that shall arise when Christianity 
shall have swallowed up all other forms of reli- 
gion, and the nations of the earth shall be gath- 
ered into one fold, under one all-conquering 
Shepherd— the Prince of Peace. For Nebuchad- 
nezzar saw a " stone cut out without hands, which 
smote the image and became a great mountain, 
and filled the whole earth," (Dan. ii. 34-5,) and 
this the prophet himself declares to be " the king- 
dom which the God of Heaven shall set up, and 
which shall never be destroyed." The first and 
the fourth vision of Daniel contain further 
prophecies relating to this kingdom." 



CHAPTER in. 

THE SEVENTY WEEKS. 

"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon 
thy holy city. . . . Know therefore and understand that from 
the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build 
Jerusalem unto the Messiah,the Prince, shall be seven weeks,and 
three score and two weeks. . . . And after three score and two 
weeks shall Messiah be cut off. . . . And He shall confirm the 
covenant with many for one week; and in the midst of the 
week He shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease," etc. 
Dan. ix. 24-27. 

This wonderful prophecy, which was character- 
ized by Sir Isaac Newton as "the foundation of 
the Christian religion" indicates the time of our 
Lord's baptism in Jordan, His crucifixion on Cal- 
vary, and the transference of the Gospel to the 
Gentiles. To Daniel it was revealed by the An- 
gel Gabriel, about the year B. C. 538, sixty-eight 
years after the prophet's deportation from Judea, 
and two years before Cyrus issued a decree for 
the return of the captives from Babylon, and the 
rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. 

The seventy weeks signify seventy weeks of 
years, or 70 x 7 = 490 years. And it is said that 
the period should commence with "the going 



28 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

forth of the commandment to restore and to build 
Jerusalem." Respecting the return of the Jews 
from Babylon, the rebuilding of their temple and 
city, and the restoration of their civil and relig- 
ious polity, there were three different command- 
ments, or decrees, issued; or, more properly 
speaking, "the commandment to restore and to 
build Jerusalem" was issued in three separate 
parts,or sections, by Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes. 
The first part, that by Cyrus, B. C. 536, authoriz- 
ing the return, and rebuilding of the temple, was 
in these words : 

" Now in the first year of Cyrus, King of Persia, that the 
word of the Lord, by the mouth of Jeremiah, might be fulfilled, 
the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, King of Persia, that he 
made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it 
also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus, King of Persia, The 
Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the 
earth ; and He hath charged me to build Him a house at Jeru- 
salem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all His 
people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, 
which is in Judah, and build the House of the Lord God of 
Israel (He is the God), which is in Jerusalem." Ezra. i. 1-3. 

Authorized by this decree " forty and two 
thousand three hundred and three score, besides 
their servants and their maids, of whom there 
were seven thousand three hundred and thirty- 
seven" (Ezra ii. 64, 65,) went up from Babylon to 
Jerusalem, and at once "builded the altar of the 



THE SEVENTY WEEKS. 29 

God of Israel to offer burnt offerings thereon," 
and "in the second year of their coming unto 
the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second 
month began Zerubbabel ... to set forward the 
work of the house of the Lord." After a while, 
through the interference of the Jews' enemies, 
their work on the temple was interrupted and 
suspended ; but in the year 519, Darius, the king, 
commanded " Tatnai, governor beyond the river," 
and others, to "let the work of this house of God 
alone ; let the governor of the Jews, and the el- 
ders of the Jews, build this house of God in His 
place. . . . Then Tatnai, governor on this side 
the river, Shethar-boznai, and their companions, 
according to that which Darius, the king, had 
sent, so they did speedily. And the elders of the 
Jews builded, and they prospered through the 
prophesying of Haggai the prophet, and Zecha- 
riah, the son of Iddo ; and they builded and fin- 
ished it according to the commandment of the 
God of Israel, and according to the command- 
ment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king 
of Persia," Ezra vi. 6-15. 

In the narrative it will be observed that the 
decree of Cyrus authorized the building of the 
temple only, and that of Darius commanded 
a resumption of the suspended work, but that 



30 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

neither one or both constituted the entire "com- 
mandment to restore and to build Jerusalem." 
It will be seen also that the period of the seventy- 
weeks, or 490 years, if commenced with Cyrus' 
decree, in the year 536, would end in B. C. 46, 
and if begun with that of Darius in 519 it would 
terminate in B. C. 29, and hence, that the date of 
neither of these decrees can be the commence- 
ment of the seventy weeks, or 490 years, referred 
toby Daniel, because from neither of these points 
would 490 years reach to the time of "Messiah 
the Prince." 

The third decree was issued by Artaxerxes 
Longimanus, in the seventh year of his reign, 
which, according to the canon of Ptolemy, and 
the computations of Usher, Hales, and other 
chronologists, was in the year B. C. 457. 

"Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king 
of Persia, . . . Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a 
ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel 
had given : and the king granted him all his request, according 
to the hand of the Lord his God upon him. . . . And he 
came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was the seventh 
year of the king. . . . Now this is the copy of the letter 
that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, 
even a scribe of the words of the commandments of the Lord, 
and of his statutes to Israel. 

"Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of 
the law of the God of Heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time. 
I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his 



THE SEVENTY WEEKS. 31 

priests and Levite? in my realm, which are minded of their 
own free-will to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee. Forasmuch 
as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven counsellors, to in- 
quire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of 
thy God which is in thine hand : and to carry the silver and 
gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely offered 
unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem; and 
all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province 
of Babylon, with the free-will offering of the people and of the 
priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is 
in Jerusalem; that thou mayest buy speedily with this money 
bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meat offerings and their 
drink offerings, and offer them upon the altar of the house of 
your God which is in Jerusalem. And whatsoever shall seem 
good to thee, and to thy brethren, to do with the rest of the 
silver and gold, that do after the will of thy God. The vessels 
also that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God, 
those deliver thou before the God of Jerusalem. And whatso- 
ever more shall be needful for the house of thy God, which thou 
shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king's treas- 
ure house. And I, even I, Artaxerxes the king, do make a de- 
cree to all the treasurers which are beyond the river, that what- 
soever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of 
Heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily, unto an hun- 
dred talents of silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, 
and to an hundred baths of wine, and to an hundred baths of 
oil, and salt without prescribing how much. "Whatsoever is 
commanded by the God of Heaven, let it be diligently done for 
the house of the God of Heaven : for why should there be wrath 
against the realm of the king and his sons ? Also we certify 
you, that, touching any of the priests and Levites, singers, 
porters, Nethinims, or ministers of this house of God, it shall 
not be lawful to impose toll, tribute, or custom, upon them. 
And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine 
hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the peo- 
ple that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy 
God; and teach ye them that know them not. 



32 THE PEOPHETIC KUMBEES. 

And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law 
of the king, let judgment he executed speedily upon him, 
whether it he unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation 
of goods, or to imprisonment." Ezra vii. 1-26. 

Here then we have the closing section of "the 
commandment (singular) of Cyrus, and Darius, 
and Artaxerxes, king of Persia," "to restore and 
to build Jerusalem." The important points to 
be noticed are : 

1. This decree reiterates the permission granted 
by Cyrus and Darius for the return of the cap- 
tives and the building of the temple. 

2. It empowers Ezra to institute and diligently 
maintain the worship of the God of Heaven, and 
provides an abundant supply of gold and silver 
with which to buy animals to be offered in sacri- 
fice on the altar of the temple. 

3. It makes provision for beautifying the house 
of God, and perfecting the temple service, by mak- 
ing a donation of golden vessels, and ordering 
that "whatsoever is commanded by the God of 
Heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of 
the God of Heaven." 

4. It clothes Ezra with full power and authority 
to re-establish the law of God given by Moses, as 
the law of Judah and Jerusalem, and to compel 
its observance by all the people beyond the river. 

5. And it authorizes Ezra, according to the 



THE SEVENTY WEEKS. 33 

wisdom, will, and design of God, to "set magis- 
trates and judges, which may judge all the people 
that are beyond the river ;" thus completely re- 
storing Jerusalem to its proper position as the 
religious and political capital and centre for the 
government and control of all the people of Pales- 
tine, and thereby fully reviving the Jewish theo- 
cratic commonwealth which had been destroyed 
by Nebuchadnezzar about a hundred and thirty 
years before. 

It is evident that Artaxerxes authorized Ezra 
to do more than is specified in the decree, for 
it is stated that "the king granted him all his re- 
quest," and in Chap. ix. 9, Ezra says, "For we 
were bondmen ; yet our God hath not forsaken 
us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto 
us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a 
reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to 
repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a 
ivall in Judah and in Jerusalem." 

Ezra here enumerates the favors which the 
kings of Persia had bestowed upon the Jews as a 
reviving of their national existence, the building 
and adorning of their temple, and a giving of 
them a wall in Judah and Jerusalem. And that 
Ezra built the wall of Jerusalem may be inferred 
from what we read in JSTeh. i. 3 : "The remnant 



34 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

that are left of the captivity there in the province 
are in great affliction and reproach; the wall of 
Jerusalem is broken down, and the gates thereof 
are burnt with fire ;" which shows that after 
Ezra, in accordance with the full grant of power 
made to him by Artaxerxes, had restored Jerusa- 
lem, and built its wall, the returned colony were 
attacked and almost destroyed by their terrible 
adversaries. So that in the year B. C. 446 a mes- 
senger brought to JSTehemiah, at Shushan, the sad 
tidings that " the remnant that are left of the 
captivity there in the province are in great afflic- 
tion and reproach ; the wall of Jerusalem is 
broken down, and the gates thereof are burnt 
with fire." 

After spending four months in prayer to God, 
and suffering great agony of mind, Nehemiah 
ventured to tell the king that his sad and dis- 
tressed condition resulted from his having learn- 
ed that "the city, the place of his fathers' sep- 
ulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are 
consumed with fire." Whereupon Artaxerxes 
(the Queen, probably Esther, was sitting by him) 
granted Nehemiah's request to be allowed to go 
to Judah and repair Jerusalem and its wall. 
Nehemiah went to Judah and began at once to 
build the wall of Jerusalem, and although "it 



THE SEVENTY WEEKS. 35 

came to pass that when Sanballat and Tobia and 
the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ash- 
dodites (probably those who destroyed what Ezra 
had bnilt), heard that the walls of Jerusalem 
were made np, and that the breaches began to be 
stopped, then they were very wroth, and con- 
spired all of them together to come and to fight 
against Jerusalem, and to hinder it;" yet, pro- 
tected and urged by the wonderful sagacity and 
energy of Nehemiah, the Jews, in the short time 
of fifty-two days, rebuilt their wall, which pro- 
tected them from the fury of their enemies. 

Now it must be borne in mind that in the case 
of Nehemiah there was no commandment or de- 
cree made " according to the law of the Medes 
and Persians," which required a written docu- 
ment signed by the king (Dan. viii.), but that 
Artaxerxes merely allowed his cup-bearer to go 
to Judah to build the city, the place of his fath- 
ers' sepulchres, providing him only with the 
means of going there in safety and of procuring 
such timber as he would need for the work he 
wished to do ; that this was because the complete 
restoration of Jerusalem had been already au- 
thorized and commanded by the decree of Cyrus, 
B. C. 536, the decree of Darius, B. C. 519, and that 
of Artaxerxes, B. C. 457, and that as the great 



36 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem 
went forth in its entireness in the year 457, this 
date must be the commencement of the seventy 
weeks of years of Dan ix. 24-27. 

And now, having disclosed this important land- 
mark, let us see if we can find at the termination 
of the period events corresponding with the pre- 
dictions. 

"Know therefore and understand, that from 
the going forth of the commandment to restore 
and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the 
Prince, shall be seven weeks, and three score and 
two weeks." These sixty -nine weeks, or 483 
years, begun at B. C. 457, will end in A. D. 26, 
which, doubtless, was the very year in which 
u Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was 
baptized of John in Jordan. And immediately, 
coming out of the water, he saw the heavens 
opened and the spirit like a dove descending up- 
on Him ; and there came a voice from heaven 
saying, Thou art My beloved Son, in whom I am 
well pleased." Mark i. 9-11. This was the an- 
ointing of "the Most Holy," and the time at 
which, and the manner in which Jesus was man- 
ifested to Israel as "the Messiah the Prince." 
Soon after His baptism "Jesus came into Galilee 
preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, and 



THE SEVENTY WEEKS. 37 

saying, The time is fulfilled (Daniel's 69 weeks) 
and the kingdom of God is at hand ; repent ye, 
and believe the Gospel." 

Now began our Lord's ministry, and the last of 
the seventy weeks. These seven years, A. D. 26- 
33, are to be divided into two equal parts of three 
and a half years each. "And in the midst (or 
middle) of the week He (Messiah) shall cause the 
sacrifice and the oblation to cease," by offering 
Himself as the great anti-typical sacrifice for 
the sins of the whole world. 

The time of our Lord's ministry, continuing 
from His baptism in A. D. 26 to His crucifixion 
in A. D. 30, was about three and a half years. 
"And He shall confirm the covenant with many 
for one week," or seven years, which begun, as 
above stated, at the baptism in A. D. 26, extends 
to the end of the time determined upon, or allot- 
ed to Daniel's people, the Jews — A. D. 33, thus : 
70 x 7 = 490 - 457 = 33. 

The new covenant was confirmed with many 
(disciples) by the ministry of our Savior during 
three years and a half, till His death, and by the 
preaching of His inspired Apostles during three 
and a half years more, when, at the termination 
of the "seventy weeks," the time came that, owing 
to the rejection and crucifixion of their Messiah, 



38 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

who "came unto his own and his own received 
Him not," the murder of Stephen, and the con- 
tinual persecution of the disciples, who were im- 
prisoned "and commanded to speak no more at 
all, nor to teach, in the name of Jesus," the Jews, 
nationally, forfeited the favor of Heaven, and 
"the glorious gospel of the blessed God" was 
transferred to the Gentiles, — by the preaching of 
Philip to the Samaritans and the Ethiopian eu- 
nuch ; by that of Peter to the Samaritans and the 
Centurian; and by our Lord's commission to 
Paul: "Make haste and get thee quickly out of 
Jerusalem ; for they will not receive thy testi- 
mony concerning me." "Depart, for I will send 
thee far hence to the Gentiles." 



CHAPTEK IV. 

THE SEVEN SEALS. 

And now commences "the times of the Gen- 
tiles," with the progress, persecutions, and tri- 
umphs of the Gospel under Koine Pagan ; and 
this is introduced under the symbol of the open- 
ing of the Seven Seals of the book that was sealed 
within and without ; and this was accomplished 
by "the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of 
David," of whom "the four living creatures, and 
the twenty-four elders" sang : "Thou art worthy 
to take the book and to open its seals : for thou 
wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy 
blood, out of every tribe and tongue and people 
and nation : and hast made us to our God kings 
and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. . . . 
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive 
power and riches and wisdom and strength and 
honor and glory and blessing." Kev. v. 

By the book sealed with seven seals we are to 
understand the Old Testament prophecies, and 
especially those of Daniel relating to the present 
dispensation, which Daniel, in obedience to the 



40 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

heavenly messenger, "closed up and sealed till 
the time of the end." Dan. xii. 4, 9. And that 
the prophet "shut up the words, and sealed the 
book" effectually, may be inferred from the fact 
that, up to this time, none of the prophetic num- 
bers of Daniel (except the seventy weeks) have 
been understood. And if in the present work 
the mysteries shall be disclosed, we may be as- 
sured that we are now living in the very "time 
of the end." 

The opening of the seals by the Lion of the 
tribe of Judah, was not for the purpose of reveal- 
ing the hidden meaning before "the time of the 
end," but so to develop and elucidate the sub- 
jects of prophecy, by giving other numbers of 
earlier application, and by more fully specifying 
the indicated events, that "the wise shall under- 
stand" the matter at "the time of the end." In 
subsequent chapters we shall see how that, by the 
Revelation of John, we are enabled to understand 
the prophecy of Daniel. 

THE FIRST SEAL. 

"And I saw when the Lamb opened the first of the seven 
seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying-, with 
a voice like thunder, Come ard see. And I saw, and behold, a 
white horse, and he that sat ( n him had a bow ; and a crown 
was given to him; and he went forth conquering and to con- 
quer." Rev. vi. 1, 2. 



THE SEVETS" SEALS. 41 

"The first seal exhibits the state of the Church 
under the conduct of a glorious rider on a white 
horse, having a bow in his hand, and a crown 
given to him, who went out conquering and to 
conquer. Under which emblem Christ Himself 
is represented, going forth upon His conquests 
over Jews and Gentiles. And as this relates to 
Christ's first victory over His enemies, after His 
commission to His disciples to preach the Gospel 
to all nations, (Matt, xxvii. 18-20,) and the pour- 
ing down of His spirit for this end on the day of 
Pentecost ; (Acts ii.) so the full completion of 
it is not until the end of time. For after all 
other horsemen and enemies of the Church have 
done their utmost against Christ and His people, 
we find this Horseman leading them all in tri- 
umph as His captives, and proceeding in His con- 
quests to make a full and final end of them. 
(Rev. xix. 11, 12, etc). So that this seal begins 
with the year 33 or 34, and does not end until the 
end of time, as to its full completion. But if we 
reckon it only in relation to the beginning of the 
next seal — Christ's conquests being darkened as 
to the outward view of men, by what follows," 
(Fleming)— -it will end in the year 66. In this 
year Paul, and perhaps Peter also, were martyred 
at Rome by the Emperor Nero. 



42 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

THE SECOND SEAL. 

"And when he had opened the second seal I heard the second 
living creature say, Come and see. And there went forth 
another horse, which was red ; and to him was given to take 
peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another ; 
and there was given to him a great sword." Kev. vi. 3, 4. 

" The second seal under the emblem of a rider 
upon a red horse, (who had a great sword given 
him, in order to take peace from the earth, and 
engage men in wars), represents the state of the 
Koman empire from the time that Nero made 
war on the Jews (in the year 66), and so contains 
the civil wars of Gralba, Otho, and Vitellius, when 
men did so remarkably kill one another ; and the 
wars of Vespasian and Titus against the Jews, 
completed afterwards by the terrible destruction 
of that nation under Hadrian ; together with his 
other wars, and the previous persecutions of 
Domitian and Trajan, and the conquest of this 
last prince. So that as this begins with the year 
66, it ends with Hadrian's wars, in the year 135, 
or with his life in the year 138." — Fleming. 

THE THIRD SEAL. 

u And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third 
living creature say, Come and see. And I saw. and behold, a. 
black horse ; and he that sat on him had a pair of scales in his 
hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living 
creatures, saying: A chcmiix of wheat for a denarius, and 



THE SEVEN SEALS. 43 

three choenices of barley for a denarius ; and as to the oil and 
the wine, see that you do no injustice." Eev. vi. 5, 6. 

"The third seal begins, therefore, in the year 
138 ; when, under the hieroglyphic of a rider on 
a black horse, with a pair of balances in his hand, 
to weigh and measure all things exactly, are set 
forth the excellent reigns of the admirable Anto- 
ninus, Pius and Philosophus. And, therefore, 
this seal runs out in the year 180." — Fleming. 

THE FOTJETH SEAL. 

"And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice 
of the fourth living creature say, Come and see. And I saw, 
and behold, a pale horse; and the name of him that sat upon 
him was Death: and Hades followed with him. And authority 
was given to him over a fourth part of the earth, to kill with 
the sword, and with famine, and with death, and with the 
beasts of the earth." Eev. vi. 7, 8. 

"The fourth seal represents the Koman horse 
turned pale, and the rider changed from a grave 
and awful judge to a murderer, so as to be called 
Death, by reason of his throwing so many into 
Hades, or the future state, by immature deaths ; 
where we have a very remarkable account of the 
state of the Koman empire after the decease of 
the brave Antoninus Philosophus, under the 
barbarities of Commodus, the short lived reigns 
of Pertinax and Didius Julianus, but especially 
under the severe and bloody Septimius Severus, 



44 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

in his wars against Pescermius Niger, Albums, 
and others, and under his son Caracalla ; and 
afterwards under Macrmus, Heliogabalus (the 
reign of the excellent Alexander Severus being 
but a short breathing to the empire and the 
Christians), Maximums and his son Pupienus, 
Balbinus, and Gordianus, and Phillippus and 
his son, with whose death I think this seal 
runs out in the year 250. And with the death 
of these Philippi, who favored Christianity, the 
four evangelical living creatures (which our 
translation renders beasts, most unaccountably) 
cease to speak openly." — Fleming. 

THE FIETH SEAL. 

"And when lie had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the 
altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of 
God, and for the testimony which they had borne : and they 
cried with a loud voice, saying : How long, O Sovereign, holy 
and true, dost thou not avenge our blood on them that dwell 
on the earth ? And a white robe was given to each of them : 
and it was said to them, that they should yet rest for a time, 
till the number of their fellow servants, and of their brethren, 
who should be killed as they had been, should be completed." 
Rev. vi. 9-11. 

During the period of the fifth seal occurred the 
seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth general perse- 
cutions of the Christians throughout the Eoman 
empire ; the object of which was to uproot and 



THE SEVEN SEALS. 45 

destroy the Christian religion. The first of these, 
commencing A. D. 249 or 250, and continuing three 
years, was instituted by an edict of the emperor 
Decius, ordering the infliction of torture, death, 
exile, and confiscation upon bishops, clergy, and 
laity who refused to turn from Christianity to 
Paganism. The others were more or less severe 
and long continued, but the last, the tenth ex- 
ceeded all the rest, for "during ten years the per- 
secution continued with scarcely mitigated hor- 
rors ; and such multitudes of Christians suffered 
death that at last the imperial murderers boasted 
that they had extinguished the Christian name 
and religion, and restored the worship of the 
gods to its former purity and splendor." — Will- 
son's Out Hist., 223. 

This dreadful persecution and slaughter of the 
Christians was authorized by the aged Diocle- 
tian, through the influence of the brutal Galerius, 
in the year 303, and it ended in 313 with the 
proclamation of the edict of Milan, by which 
Constantine abolished all laws unfriendly to 
Christianity, and established universal religious 
toleration. 

Hence the souls of the martyrs are represented 
as lying under the altar of sacrifice, crying to 
heaven for vengeance upon their murderers, but 



46 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

as the time had not come to grant their request, 
white robes were given to them as a temporary 
reward for the faithful testimony which they 
had borne, and they were requested to " rest for 
a time, till the number of their fellow servants, 
and of their brethren, who should be killed as 
they had been, should be completed." This, no 
doubt, alludes to the fact that before their prayer 
for vengeance against Rome Pagan should be 
answered, there would be another great persecu- 
tion, that under Rome Papal in the thirteenth, 
fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries ; 
and that after that "the judgment shall sit, and 
they shall take away his dominion, to consume 
and to destroy it unto the end." Dan. vii. 26 ; 
and when the command shall go forth— "Rejoice 
over her, O heaven, and you saints, and apostles, 
and prophets ; for God has avenged you on her. 
. . . And in her was found the blood of 
prophets and of saints, and of all that were slain 
upon the earth." Rev. xviii. 20, 24. This second 
slaughter of the witnesses of Jesus will be noticed 
in the eleventh chapter. 

THE SIXTH SEAL. 

"And I saw when he had opened the sixth seal ; and there 
was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth 
of hair, and the moon became like blood : and the stars of 



THE SEVEN SEALS. 47 

heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when 
shaken by a violent wind : and the heaven departed as a volume 
when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved 
out of its place : and the kings of the earth, and the great men, 
and the officers, and the rich men, and the mighty men, and 
every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the 
caves, and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the moun- 
tains and to the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of 
him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb : 
for the great day of his wrath has come, and who is able to 
stand T 1 Rev. vii. 12-17. 

"The sixth seal, or period, produceth mighty 
changes and revolutions, and, according to the 
prophetic style, are expressed by great commo- 
tions in the earth and in the heavens. The very 
same images, the very same expressions, are em- 
ployed by other prophets concerning the muta- 
tions and alterations of religions and govern- 
ments ; and why may they not, therefore, with 
equal fitness and propriety, be applied to one of 
the greatest and most memorable revolutions 
which ever were in the world, the subversion of 
the heathen religion, and establishment of the 
Christian, which was begun by Constantine the 
Great, and was completed by his successors? The 
series of the prophecy requires this application, 
and all the phrases and expressions will easily 
admit of such a construction. 

And I beheld when he had opened the sixtl^ 



48 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

seal,' Rev. xii, 'and lo, there was a" great earth- 
quake,' or rather 'a great 0011011881011;' for the 
word in the original comprehends the shaking 
of heaven, as well as of earth. The same phrase 
is used by the prophet Haggai, ii. 6, 21, concern- 
ing the first coming of Christ, 'I will shake the 
heavens and the earth,' and this shaking as the 
apostle saith (Heb. xii. 27), 'signifieth the remov- 
ing of those things which are shaken ; ' and so 
the prophet Haggai himself explains it, 'I will 
shake the heavens and the earth, and I will over- 
throw the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy 
the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen. ' 
And where was ever a greater concussion or re- 
moval than when Christianity was advanced to 
the throne of Paganism, and Idolatry gave place 
to the true religion? Then follow the particular 
effects of this general concussion, ver. 12-14, — 
'And the sun became black as sack-cloth of hair, 
and the moon became as blood ; and the stars of 
heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth 
her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty 
wind ; and the heavens departed as a scroll when 
it is rolled together ; and every mountain and 
island were moved out of their places.' Isaiah 
speaketh much in the same manner concerning 
Babylon and Idumea (xiii. 10; xxxiv. 4),— 'For 



THE SEVEN SEALS. 49 

the stars of heaven and the constellations there- 
of shall not give their light ; the sun shall be 
darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall 
not cause her light to shine ; and all the host of 
heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall 
be rolled together as a scroll ; and all their host 
shall fall down as the leaf falleth off from the 
vine, and as a falling fig from the fig-tree.' And 
Jeremiah, concerning the land of Judah (v. 23, 
24), — 'I beheld the earth, and lo, it was without 
form and void ; and the heavens, and they had 
no light ; I beheld the mountains, and lo, they 
trembled, and all the hills moved lightly ; ' and 
Ezekiel, concerning Egypt, (xxxii. 7) — 'And when 
I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and 
make the stars thereof dark ; I will cover the 
sun with a cloud ; and the moon shall not give 
her light.' And Joel, concerning Jerusalem, Joel 
ii. 10, 31. — 'The earth shall quake before them, 
the heavens shall tremble, the sun and moon 
shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their 
shining ; the sun shall be turned into darkness, 
and the moon into blood, before the great and 
terrible day of the Lord come.' And the Savior 
Himself, also, concerning the destruction of Jer- 
usalem, Matt. xxiv. 29, — 'The sun shall be dark- 
ened, and the moon shall not give her light, and 



50 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers 
of the heavens shall be shaken.' 

Now it is certain that the fall of any of these 
cities and kingdoms was not of greater concern 
and consequence to the world, nor more deserv- 
ing to be described in such pompous figures, than 
the fall of the Pagan Roman empire, when the 
great lights of the heathen world, 'the sun, moon 
and stars,' the powers, civil and ecclesiastical, 
were all eclipsed and obscured, the heathen em- 
perors and Caesars were slain, the heathen priests 
and augurs were extirpated, the heathen officers 
and magistrates were removed, the heathen tem- 
ples were demolished, and their revenues appro- 
priated to better uses. It is customary with the 
prophets, after they have described a thing in 
the most symbolical and figurative diction, to rep- 
resent the same again in plainer language ; and 
the same method is observed here, ver. 15, 16, 17, 
— 'And the kings of the earth, and the great men, 
and the rich men, and the chief captains, and 
the mighty men, and every bond-man, and every 
free-man, that is, Maximian, Galerius, Maximin, 
Maxen tius, Licinius, etc., with all their adherents 
and followers, were so routed and dispersed that 
they 'hid themselves in the dens and in the 
rocks of the mountains, and said to the moun- 



THE SEVEN SEALS. 51 

tains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us;' expres- 
sions used, as in others prophets, to denote the 
utmost terror and consternation. 'Fall on us 
and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on 
the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for 
the great day of his wrath is come ; and who 
shall be able to stand?' This is, therefore, a tri- 
umph of Christ over His heathen enemies, and 
triumph after a severe persecution ; so that the 
time and all the circumstances, as well as the 
series and order of the prophecy, agree perfectly 
with this interpretation. Galerius, Maximin and 
Licinius made even a public confession of their 
guilt, recalled their decrees and edicts against 
the Christians, and acknowledged the just judg- 
ments of God and of Christ in their destruction." 
—Bishop Newton! s Dissertations on the Prophe- 
cies, p. 528. 

"It was the will of God to lay His hand still 
more heavily on the tyrant Maximin. Struck 
with rage at his disappointments in the sad re- 
verse of his affairs, he slew many priests and 
prophets of his gods, by whose enchantments he 
had been seduced with false hopes of universal 
empire in the East ; and finding most probably 
that he had gained no friends among the Chris- 
tians by his late edict, he published another in 



52 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

their favor as full and complete as that of Con- 
st antine and Licinius. So amazingly were affairs 
now changed that contending emperors courted 
the favor of the poor persecuted Christians. 
After this he was struck with a sudden plague 
over his whole body, pined away with hunger, 
fell down from his bed, his flesh being so wasted 
away by a secret fire that it consumed and drop- 
ped off from his bones ; his eyes started out of 
their sockets ; and in his distress he began to see 
God passing judgment on him. Frantic in his 
agonies, he cried out, 'It was not I, but others, 
who did it.' At length, by the increasing force 
of torment, he owned his guilt, and every now 
and then implored Christ that He would com- 
passionate his misery. He confessed himself 
vanquished, and gave up the ghost"— History of 
the Church of Christ, vol. ii. p. 28. 

The time of the sixth seal begins at the end of 
the fifth in A. D. 313, and terminates with the 
death of Constantine in A. D. 337. 

THE SEVENTH SEAL. 

"And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence 
in heaven for about half an hour," etc. Rev. viii. 1-6. 

To properly understand the chronology of the 
seals, trumpets and plagues, it must be borne in 



THE SEVEN SEALS. 53 

mind that the seven trumpets are seven parts or 
sections of the seventh seal ; that the seven plagues 
are the seven constituent parts of the seventh 
trumpet; that what is represented as being said 
and done on the opening of the seventh seal and 
the sounding of the seventh trumpet, constitutes 
prospective outlines of the events that are to 
transpire under the seven trumpets and seven 
plagues respectively ; and that, therefore, no time 
is to be allowed for the seventh seal and seventh 
trumpet but that occupied by the seven trumpets 
and seven plagues. 

When Paganism was suppressed, and Christian- 
ity became married to the civil power, and estab- 
lished as the religion of the empire, men thought 
that the kingdoms of this world were soon to be- 
come the kingdom of our God and His Christ, 
but the Omniscient saw otherwise, for when the 
seventh seal was opened, presenting a panorama 
of the succeeding 1200 years, the spectators were 
appalled at the sight and dumb with astonish- 
ment, so that "there was silence in heaven." In 
view of the dreadful persecution of faithful 
Christians that was to ensue, the seven angels to 
whom the seven trumpets were given, were pre- 
ceded by another angel, having a golden censer, 
and much incense to be offered upon the golden 



54 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

altar to facilitate the intercessions and prayers 
of the suffering saints of God ; and on further 
view of the enormous growth and power of the 
imperial and papal despots, the angel " took the 
censer and filled it with fire from the altar and 
threw it into the earth, and there were voices, 
and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earth- 
quake," the symbols of the quarrels, contentions, 
wars, Barbarian, Saracen and Turkish invasions 
and conquests, by which the persecuting tyrants 
of the earth should be held in check, and re- 
strained from annihilating the faithful witnesses 
of Jesus. 

Further on, the events symbolized by the voices, 
thunderings, lightnings and earthquake, will be 
noticed in detail. 



CHAPTEK V. 

THE WOMAN CLOTHED WITH THE SUN". 



A. D. 33-313. 



"And a great sign appeared in heaven; a woman clothed with 
the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head was a 
crown of twelve stars; and, being with child, she cried out in 
travail, and in the pains of delivery." Eev. xii. 1, 2. 

This figure symbolically represents the Church 
of Christ (a) in Jerusalem at the termination of 
Daniel's seventy weeks, in A. D. 33. The woman 
clothed with the sun is the Christian Church in- 
vested with the rays of Jesus Christ, "the light 
of the world," "the Sun of righteousness," whose 
effulgent glory is reflected upon the darkness of 
the world by the twelve stars, the twelve Apostles 
of our Lord, who adorn the Head of the church. 
(b) It represents the Church bringing forth spir- 
itual children to Christ, her spouse, during the 
ten bitter persecutions of the first three centuries; 
a similar expression being used by Paul, Gal. iv. 
19 : "My little children, for whom I again suffer 
the pains of gestation, till Christ be formed in 
you." (c) It refers to the Church bringing forth 



56 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

the first Christian emperor, Constantine, at the 
end of the last and greatest general persecution. 

"And there appeared another sign in heaven; and behold a 
great dragon, fiery-red, that had seven heads, and ten horns; 
and on his head seven diadams." Rev. xii. 3. 

The great red dragon denotes the Pagan Ro- 
man Empire ; red, scarlet, or purple, as it was 
usually called, was the distinguishing color of 
the Roman emperors, consuls and generals. The 
seven heads allude to the seven hills on which 
was built the city of Rome, where the dragon 
had his seat or throne ; the ten horns to the ten 
kingdoms into which the Roman empire was di- 
vided ; and the seven diadems to the seven forms 
of government which successively prevailed at 
Rome from the time of Romulus to the rise of the 
Papacy. Dan. vii. Rev. xvii. 

"And the dragon stood before the woman, who was about to 
bring forth, that when she had brought forth, he might devour 
her child. And she brought forth a male child, that was to 
rule all nations with a rod of iron, and the child was caught 
away to God, even to His throne." Ver. 4, 5. 

The male child here referred to was Constan- 
tine, called the first Christian emperor, and the 
dragon was especially Galerius, who induced 
Diocletian to issue an edict against Christianity, 
which resulted in the ten years persecution, A. 
D. 303-313, called the Age of Martyrs. The ty- 



THE WOMAN CLOTHED WITH THE SUN. 57 

rant Galerius laid many snares for the young 
Oonstantine, but, by fleeing into Britain, lie es- 
caped them all, and finally became the sole mon- 
arch of the Roman world, and the supreme head 
of the Christian church, and thus usurped the 
throne of God, and became the Imperial Anti- 
Christ — the first beast of Rev. xiii. Constantine 
lived to see all the Pagan sovereigns, who opposed 
his authority, destroyed, when he ruled, as it 
were, all nations ; for the Roman dominions ex- 
tended from the walls of Scotland to Kurdistan, 
and they were greatly enlarged by conquests 
during his reign. But as his stern, Roman na- 
ture was but little restrained by the corrupt form 
of Christianity that he embraced, "lie ruled the 
nations with a rod of iron." 

In the symbol of the woman bearing a child 
there is an important period of time indicated. 
The time from the conception to the birth is 40 
weeks, or 280 days, which symbolizes 280 years. 
Commencing in A. D. 33, at the end of Daniel's 
"seventy weeks" of years, it reaches to A. D. 313, 
when the terrible pangs of the tenth general 
persecution were ended by the Church, the wo- 
man, giving birth to a Christian emperor, Con- 
stantine, who in this very year abolished all laws 
of his predecessors that were unfriendly to the 



58 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

Christians, issued the celebrated Edict of Milan, 
granting universal toleration to Christianity, and 
established this as the religion of the Roman em- 
pire. So that the rider of the white horse, who 
in A. D. 33, with a bow in his hand, " went forth 
conquering and to conquer," was so successful 
that in A. D. 313 he had subverted Pagan Rome, 
and the Cross, the symbol of man's redemption, 
was borne in triumph by the conquering legions 
of Constantine. 

"And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a 
place prepared by God, that they should feed her there for a 
thousand two hundred and sixty days." Yer. 6. 

We merely notice the fact here, but will 
fully consider it further on, that the system of 
Imperial Christianity which Constantine made 
the religion of the empire, was not the true 
Church of Christ symbolized by the "woman 
clothed with the sun," for immediately after the 
male child was brought forth, she retired to the 
wilderness, where she remained in dejection and 
obscurity during the twelve hundred and sixty 
years that the politico-religious system of Con- 
stantine tyranized over the world. 

In the woman " clothed with the sun and the 
moon under her feet," we have another very im- 
portant thing symbolized — that which affords the 



THE WOMAN CLOTHED WITH THE SUN. 59 

clue to our understanding of the prophetic num- 
bers of Daniel and the Revelation. It is that her 
time is to be measured by solar years, and all time 
subsequent to hers by lunar years. In Nebuchad- 
nezzar's monarchical image (] )an. ii.), the head of 
gold signified the Babylonian empire, which was 
first chronologically (B. C. 606-538); next in order 
was the "breast and arms of silver," representing 
the Medo-Persian empire (B. C. 538-331); then 
followed " the belly and thighs of brass," refer- 
ring to the Macedo-Grrecian empire (B. C. 331-65); 
next came "his legs of iron," alluding to the Ro- 
man empire (B. C. 65- A. D. 476); and lastly "the 
feet and the toes, part of potters' clay and part of 
iron," indicating the ten monarchies of Europe 
(A. D. 476-1923). 

This image symbolically represents the chron- 
ological succession of empires— first in time the 
head, and last the toes. So does this woman 
symbolically represent the Gentile church of 
Christ chronologically. Appearing in A. D 33, 
with a crown of twelve stars, the twelve Apostles, 
upon her head, and retiring from the scene, flee- 
ing into the wilderness with her feet in A. I). 313, 
the resplendent light of the Sun of righteousness 
is succeeded by the moonshine of Romanism in- 
stituted by Constantine. Hence, at this point, 



60 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

A. D. 313, occurs the transition from solar to 
lunar years for the measurement of prophetic 
time. 

This change of time is in fulfilment of the 
promise of Matt. xxiv. 22. Our Lord, speaking of 
the unparalleled tribulation that should come 
upon the world, said : "And except those days 
should be shortened, there should no flesh be 
saved ; but for the elect's sake those days shall be 
shortened." This may be thought to refer to the 
time of the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, 
but then all the Christians, the elect, had escaped 
to Pella, and were secure. And, furthermore, 
the things that have beenwere mere types of those 
that shall be; so that many prophecies that re- 
late to the overthrow of Judaism and Paganism 
will have their complete, anti-typical fulfilment 
in the destruction of the wicked at the close of 
this age. 

Solar years have 365 T %%\ days, while the proph- 
etic years, symbolized in Daniel and the Revela- 
tion, consist of twelve months of 30 days each, 
or 360 days. Hence the times have been shorten- 
ed by taking 5'242 days from every year from A. 
D. 313 to A. D. 1923, the period during which the 
Roman moon eclipses the Sun of righteousness, as 
will be shown further on. 



THE WOMAK CLOTHED WITH THE SUN. 61 

The "forty-two months" of Rev. xiii. 5 is the 
same period as the "thousand two hundred and 
sixty days" of Rev. xii. 6. In prophetic language 
a day stands for a year — a lunar year ; and the 
following figures will show that these 42 months 
and 1260 days will be reduced from 1260 lunar to 
1242 solar years, and, consequently, be properly 
"shortened" by deducting 18 years therefrom: 
42 x 30 = 1260 x 5*242 = 6604*920 -4- 365*242 = 18; 
1260 — 18 = 1242 solar, or historical years. 

In a subsequent chapter it will be shown that 
a grand, sacred scale, upon which the times and 
seasons of man upon the earth have been pro- 
tracted, is a year of iveehs of years, or 360 x 7 = 
2520 years. These are the degrees of the divine 
circle, the disk of the sun of righteousness, while 
1260, the number that applies to the Roman moon, 
is one-half of that circle, a crescent of the orb 
of night — the feeble, flickering light of the "Dark 
Ages." 

Hence we conclude that in order to understand 
the prophecies and prophetic numbers, and adapt 
them to the times and events of the history of 
this age, we must take a day to signify a year of 
12 months, of 30 days each; that these years, 
which we will call lunar, must be reduced to so- 
lar years, as in the foregoing example ; and that 



62 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

we have authority for this conclusion from the 
promise of our Savior that " those days shall be 
shortened;" from the significance of the sun- 
clothed woman ; and from the fact that all for- 
mer attempts otherwise to adjust the prophetic 
numbers with historical events, have been un- 
successful, while in this way the matter is quite 
easy, and the result a wonderful confirmation of 
the divine origin and genuineness of the blessed 
Bible, and of our holy Protestant Christianity. 

"Blessed Bible! howl love it; 

How it does rny spirit cheer ; 
What on earth like this to covet ; 

Oh, what stores of wealth are here."' 

And now the seals are broken from the Book 
of Daniel, and the key turned that unlocks the 
mysteries of the Revelation ; so let us, dear read- 
er, devoutly proceed to explore these wonderful 
treasure vaults of the wisdom and beneficence 
of our Heavenly Father. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS. 



THE FIRST TRUMPET. 

"And the first angel sounded ; and there were hail and fire 
mingled with blood, and they were thrown into the earth : and 
the third part of the earth was burned up, and the third part of 
the trees was burned up, and all the green grass was burned 
up." Kev. viii. 7. 

The period of the sixth seal (A. D. 313-337) was 
that of the decline and fall of Paganism, and, at 
the same time, that of the rise, growth, and ma- 
turity of Imperial or Dragonic Christianity, which 
was instituted and fostered by the first Christian 
emperor ; and the events of the first trumpet be- 
gan immediately after the death of Constantine 
(A. D. 337) with the murders, contentions, and 
wars of his sons, Constantine II., Constantius II., 
and Constans, among whom was partitioned the 
empire. To Constantine was assigned Britain, 
Ganl and Spain ; to Constantius, Thrace, Asia 
Minor, Syria, Egypt, etc.; and to Constans, Italy, 
Africa and Illyricum. Hence under each of the 
four trumpets mention is made of a third part of 



64 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBEES. 

the Roman dominions, as thus divided ; and this 
third part refers especially, if not entirely, to the 
middle portion, or that embracing Italy, Africa 
and Illyricum. 

"The voice of the dying emperor had recom- 
mended the care of his funeral to the piety of 
Constantius II., perhaps the most favored of 
his sons ; and that prince, by the vicinity of his 
eastern station, could easily anticipate the dili- 
gence of his brothers who resided in their dis- 
tant governments of Italy and Gaul. 

On the arrival of Constantius in the capital, he 
gave his consent to a promiscuous massacre, which 
involved his two uncles, seven of his cousins, of 
whom Dalmatius and Hannibalianus were the 
most illustrious, the patrician Optatus, who had 
married a sister of the late emperor, and the pre- 
fect Ablavius, whose power and riches had in- 
spired him with some hope of obtaining the pur- 
ple. Of so numerous a family, Gallus and Julian 
alone, the two youngest children of Julius Con- 
stantius, were saved from the hands of the assas- 
sins, till their rage, satisfied with slaughter, had 
in some measure subsided. 

The massacre of the Flavian race was succeeded 
by a new division of the provinces, which was 
ratified by a personal interview of the three 



THE FIEST TRUMPET. 65 

brothers. Constantine, the eldest of the Caesars, 
obtained, with a certain pre-eminence of rank, 
the possession of the new capital, which bore his 
own name and that of his father. Thrace and 
the conn tries of the east were allotted for the 
patrimony of Constantius ; and Constans was 
acknowledged as the lawful sovereign of Italy, 
Africa, and the western Illyricnm. The armies 
submitted to the hereditary rights, and they con- 
descended, after some delay, to accept from the 
Roman senate the title of Augustus. When they 
first assumed the reins of government, the eldest 
of these princes was twenty-one, the second 
twenty, and the third only seventeen years of 
age. 

After the partition of the empire three years 
had scarcely elapsed before the sons of Constan- 
tine seemed impatient to convince mankind that 
they were incapable of contenting themselves 
with the dominions which they were unqualified 
to govern. The eldest of these princes soon com- 
plained that he was defrauded of his just propor- 
tion of the spoils of their murdered kinsman ; 
and at the head of a tumultuary band, suited for 
rapine rather than for conquest, he suddenly 
broke into the dominions of Constans, by the 
way of the Julian Alps. On the news of his 



66 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBEES. 

brother's invasion, Constans detached a select and 
disciplined body of his Illyrian troops, proposing 
to follow them in person with the remainder of 
his forces. But the conduct of his lieutenant 
soon terminated the unnatural contest. By the 
artful appearances of flight, Constantine was be- 
trayed into an ambuscade, which had been con- 
cealed in a wood, where the rash youth, with a 
few attendants, was surprised, surrounded and 
slain (A. D. 340). 

The fate of Constans himself was delayed 
about ten years longer, and the revenge of his 
brother's death was reserved for the more ignoble 
hand of a domestic traitor. The vices of Con- 
stans had rendered him contemptible ; and Mag- 
nentius, an ambitious soldier, who was of bar- 
barian extraction, was encouraged by the public 
discontent to assert the honor of the Roman 
name. The friendship of Marcellinus, Count of 
the sacred largesses, supplied with a liberal hand 
the means of seduction ; and the soldiers in the 
city of Autun were easily persuaded to salute 
Magnentius as Augustus. Constans, who was 
pursuing in the adjacent forest his favorite 
amusement of hunting, had barely time for flight ; 
but before he could reach a seaport in Spain, 
where he intended to embark, he was overtaken 



THE FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS. 67 

near Helena, at the foot of the Pyrenees, by a 
party of light cavalry, whose chief executed his 
commission by the murder of the son of Constan- 
tine (A. D. 350)."— Student's Gibbon, 155. 

About four years after this, Gallus, who with 
his brother Julian was spared at the massacre of 
his kindred, fell a victim to the fury of Con- 
stantius, "and the nephew of Constantine, with 
his hands tied behind his back, was beheaded in 
prison, like the vilest malefactor." And it was 
not long before the martial successes of Julian, 
who had been made a Caesar and assigned to the 
province of Gaul, excited the jealousy of Con- 
stantius, who determined to deprive his cousin of 
"the hardy veterans who had vanquished on the 
banks of the Rhine the fiercest nations of Ger- 
many ; . . . but the soldiers, who loved and 
admired Julian, who despised and perhaps hated 
Constantius, determined to raise their general to 
the throne. They were assembled at Paris before 
their departure to the east ; and at the hour of 
midnight they quitted their quarters, encom- 
passed the palace, and, careless of future dangers, 
pronounced the fatal and irrevocable words, 
Julian Augustus ! The prince in vain refused 
the proffered honor ; nor did he yield till he had 
been repeatedly assured that if he wished to live 



68 THE PEOPHETIC NTJMBEES. 

lie must consent to reign (A. D. 360) "—/Sfo. Gib- 
bon, 159. 

Eapid preparations for civil war were now 
made, but Constantius dying in A. D. 361, left 
Julian the undisputed monarch of the Roman 
world. 

Julian, called the "Apostate," ridiculed and 
oppressed the Christians, restored and encour- 
aged the pagan religion, and aimed what he 
thought would be a deadly blow to Christianity, 
by ordering the temple at Jerusalem to be re- 
built, hoping thus to falsify the language of 
prophecy and the truth of Revelation ; but this 
work was frustrated in consequence of balls of 
fire that burst from the earth, and alarmed and 
dispersed the workmen who were digging the 
foundations. At length, in A. D. 363, Julian, in a 
war with the Persians, was wounded by a javelin, 
and died the same night ; and thus the race of 
the great Constantine became extinct. Julian 
was succeeded by Jovian, who, being suffocated 
in his bed by fumes of burning charcoal, was fol- 
lowed by Valentinian, and his brother Valens, 
by whom the Roman world was finally divided 
into the Eastern and Western empires (A. D. 364) ; 
and with this event ended the catalogue of hor- 
rors symbolized by "hail and fire mingled with 



THE FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS. 69 

blood" which, were to burn up the earth, trees, 
and grass, of the third part of the Roman empire. 

THE SECOND TRUMPET. 

"And the second angel sounded; and, as it were, a great 
mountain; burning with fire, was thrown into the sea : and the 
third part of the sea became blood. And the third part of the 
creatures that were in the sea, that had life, died: and the third 
part of the ships was destroyed." Rev. viii. 8, 9. 

Here the sea signifies the Mediterranean, into 
which project the maritime countries of Italy, 
Cicily, Illyricum and Africa, which constituted 
the middle " third part" of the Roman empire as 
divided by the sons of Constantine ; and the 
"great mountain burning with fire" alludes to 
the barbaric nations of the North which, during 
this period, like a crushing avalanche, over- 
whelmed those countries that had formed the 
patrimony of Constans. 

According to Gibbon "the Goths had contracted 
an hereditary attachment for the Imperial house 
of Constantine, of whose power and liberality 
they had received so many signal proofs," but 
when Julian,the last of that dynasty was dead,and 
the empire was divided between Yalentinian and 
Valens "their contempt for two new and obscure 
princes, who had been raised to the throne by a 
popular election, inspired the Goths with bolder 



70 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

hopes." And at this time (A. D. 364) the great 
mountain burning with fire began to roll towards 
the Mediterranean Sea. The barbarian invasion 
was retarded during several years by the vigi- 
lence of Valentinian, Valens, Gratian and Theo- 
dosius ; but immediately after the death of Theo- 
dosius, in A. D. 395, the skilled and daring 
warrior, Alaric, led his impetuous Goths in 
another invasion of the empire. They first rav- 
aged and plundered the cities of Greece, and 
then invaded Italy, and "spread desolation nearly 
to the walls of Rome." And "scarcely had Alaric 
departed, when another deluge of barbarians, 
consisting of Yandals, Suevi, Burgundians, Goths 
and Alani, and numbering not less than two 
hundred thousand fighting men, under the com- 
mand of Radagaisus, poured down upon Italy," 
but through the skill of the Roman general, 
Stilicho, Radagaisus was finally defeated and 
executed, and one third of his mighty hosts were 
sold as slaves. About three years later Alaric 
again entered Italy, and directly laid siege to 
Rome, and after the Romans had become so re- 
duced by famine that thousands were dying daily 
they were allowed to purchase temporary relief 
by the payment to the haughty conqueror of an 
enormous amount of gold, silver and merchan- 



THE FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS. 71 

dise ; but soon after the city fell into Alaric's 
hands and was pillaged by his ruthless soldiery. 

We next come to the chastisement inflicted 
upon the Roman empire by Attila, justly called 
the "Scourge of God," the chief of the Huns, who 
"defeated Theodosius, the emperor of the East, 
in three bloody battles, and after ravaging 
Thrace, Macedonia and Greece, pursued his deso- 
lating march westward into Gaul, but was de- 
feated by the Romans and their Gothic allies, in 
the bloody battle of Chalons (A. D. 451). The 
next year the Huns poured like a torrent upon 
Italy, and spread their ravages over all Lom- 
bardy." — WillsorHs Outlines of History, 233. 

We will now notice the important part played 
by the Vandals, who were led by "the terrible 
Genseric ; a name which in the destruction of the 
Roman empire has deserved an equal rank with 
Alaric and Attila. 

Genseric landed in Africa in A. D. 429, with 
fifty thousand effective men. His numbers were 
soon increased by the Moors, whom the Romans 
had driven out of their native country, and by 
the Donatists, whom the Catholics had perse- 
cuted with cruel severity. . . . The impor- 
tance and danger of Africa were deeply felt by 
the regent of the West. Blacidia implored the 



72 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

assistance of her eastern ally, and the Italian 
fleet and army were reinforced by Aspar, who 
sailed from Constantinople with a powerful 
armament. As soon as the force of the two em- 
pires was united under the command of Boniface, 
he boldly marched against the Vandals ; and the 
loss of a second battle irretrievably decided the 
fate of Africa. He embarked with the precipi- 
tation of despair ; and the people of Hippo were 
permitted, with their families and effects, to 
occupy the vacant place of the soldiers, the 
greatest part of whom were either slain or made 
prisoners by the Vandals." 

Eight years after the capture of Hippo the 
Vandals had taken Carthage, and permanently 
established their dominion in the African portion 
of the "third part" of the Roman empire (A. D. 
439). 

"The loss or desolation of the provinces from 
the ocean to the Alps impaired the glory and 
greatness of Rome ; her internal prosperity was 
irretrievably destroyed by the separation of Af- 
rica. And the rapacious Vandals confiscated the 
patrimonial estates of the senators, and inter- 
cepted the regular subsidies which relieved the 
poverty and encouraged the idleness of the 
plebians. The distress of the Romans was soon 



THE FIKST FOUR TRUMPETS. 73 

aggravated by an unexpected attack; and the 
province, so long cultivated for their use by in- 
dustrious and obedient subjects, was armed 
against them by an ambitious barbarian. Gen- 
seric resolved to create a naval power ; and after 
an interval of six centuries, the fleets that issued 
from the ports of Carthage again claimed the 
empire of the Mediterranean. The success of the 
Vandals, the conquest of Sicily, the sack of Pal- 
ermo, and the frequent descents on the coast of 
Lucania, awakened and alarmed the mother of 
Valentinian. The death of this emperor was the 
immediate occasion of the invasion of Italy and 
the sack of Home. . . . Genseric immediately 
equipped a numerous fleet of Vandals and Moors, 
and cast anchor at the mouth of the Tiber. . . . 
On the third day after the tumult Genseric boldly 
advanced from the port of Astia to the gates of 
the defenceless city. . . . Rome and its in- 
habitants were delivered to the licentiousness of 
the Vandals and Moors, whose blind passions re- 
venged the injuries of Carthage. The pillage 
lasted fourteen days and nights (A. D. 455, June 
15-29) ; and all that yet remained of public or 
private wealth was diligently transported to the 
vessels of Genseric. . . . He (Majorian) formed 
the design of attacking the Vandals in their new 



74 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

settlements, and collected a powerful fleet in the 
secure and capacious harbor of Carthagena in 
Spain. But Genseric was saved from impending 
and inevitable ruin by the treachery of some 
powerful subjects, envious or apprehensive of 
their master's success. Guided by their secret 
intelligence, he surprised the unguarded fleet in 
the bay of Carthagena : many of the ships were 
sunk, or taken, or burnt ; and the preparations 
of three years were destroyed in a single day (A. 
D. 460). . . . The kingdom of Italy was afflicted, 
under the reign of Ricimer, by the incessant dep- 
redations of the Vandal pirates. They repeatedly 
visited the coasts of Spain, Liguria, Tuscany, 
Campania, Lucania, Bruttium, Apulia, Calabria, 
Venetia, Dalmatia, Epirus, Greece and Sicily; 
they were tempted to subdue the island of Sar- 
dinia, so advantageously placed in the centre of 
the Mediterranean; and their arms spread deso- 
lation or terror from the columns of Hercules to 
the mouths of the Nile. . . . The powers of 
the Eastern empire were strenuously exerted to 
deliver Italy and the Mediterranean from the 
Vandals. The fleet that sailed from Constanti- 
nople to Carthage consisted of 1113 ships, and the 
number of soldiers and mariners exceeded one 
hundred thousand men. Basiliscus, the brother 



THE FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS. 75 

of tl^e empress Verina, was intrusted with this 
important command. He landed his troops at 
Cape Bona, or the promontory of Mercury, about 
forty miles from Carthage ; the Vandals who 
opposed his progress by sea or land were succes- 
sively vanquished : and if Basiliscus had siezed 
the moment of consternation and boldly advanced 
to the capital, Carthage must have surrendered, 
and the kingdom of the Vandals been ex- 
tinguished. But he consented to a fatal truce 
for five days, and Genseric availed himself of this 
short respite to destroy the Koman fleet by means 
of fire ships. Basiliscus returned to Constanti- 
nople with the loss of more than half of his fleet 
and army, and sheltered his guilty head in the 
sanctuary of St. Sophia, till his sister, by her tears 
and entreaties, could obtain his pardon from the 
indignant emperor. After the failure of this 
great expedition (A. D. 468), Genseric again be- 
came the tyrant of the sea : the coasts of Italy, 
Greece and Asia were again exposed to his re- 
venge and avarice ; he added Sicily to the num- 
ber of his provinces ; and, before he died (A. D. 
477,) in the fulness of years and glory, he beheld 
the final extinction of the empire of the West." — 
Student's Gibbon, 248-270. 
Thus, wonderfully, does Gibbon prove the 



76 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

truthfulness of the Scriptures which hfe professed 
to disbelieve ! 

"As the power of the Romans themselves de- 
clined, their barbarian allies augmented their 
demands and increased their insolence, until 
they finally insisted, with arms in their hands, 
that a third part of the lands of Italy should be 
divided among them. Under their leader Odo- 
acer, a chief of the barbarian tribe of theHeruli, 
they overcame the little resistance that was 
offered them ; and the conqueror, abolishing the 
imperial titles of Caesar and Augustus, pro- 
claimed himself king of Italy (A. D. 476). The 
Western empire of the Komans was subverted ; 
Roman glory had passed away : Roman liberty 
existed only in the remembrance of the past : 
the rude warriors of Germany and Scythia pos- 
sessed the city of Romulus; and a barbarian 
occupied the palace of the Caesar's." — Will. Out. 
Hist, 234. 

Observe how completely the prophecy is ful- 
filled in these historical events : "And the second 
angel sounded (at the extinction of the dynasty 
of Constantine, the bugle blast of the Goths 
called the warriors to arms) ; and as it were, a 
great mountain (the powerful nations of the 
North), burning with fire (inflamed with martial 



THE FIEST FOUR TRUMPETS. 77 

valor and barbaric ferocity), was thrown into the 
sea (the Mediterranean, Italy, and her maritime 
provinces) : and the third part of the sea became 
blood (there was dreadful carnage and blood- 
shed). And the third part of the creatures that 
were in the sea, that had life, died (the civil rulers 
of the conquered provinces, and finally the Ro- 
man emperor, Augustulus, with his whole family, 
were deposed, and slain, or dismissed) : and the 
third part of the ships were destroyed" (the civil 
and commercial navies of Italy and her provinces, 
and the immense naval armaments designed to 
crush the power of the Vandals were all "des- 
troyed" by Genseric). 

THE THIRD TRUMPET. 

"And the third angel sounded; and there fell from heaven 
a great star, that burned as a lamp ; and it fell upon the third 
part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters. And the 
name of the star is called Wormwood ; and the third part of 
the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the 
waters, because they were made bitter." Rev. viii. 10, 11. 

As the second trumpet ended with the over- 
throw of the imperial Roman power in Italy rn 
A. I). 476, so the third trumpet commences at the 
same date with the establishment of the kingdom 
of the Heruli on the ruins thereof. After an ex- 
istence of fourteen years, this, in turn, was sub- 



78 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

verted by the more powerful Ostrogoths, under 
their famous king, Thecdoric, whose reign "passed 
like a brilliant meteor," and to whom the symbol 
of the great star that fell from heaven principal- 
ly alludes. The bitter principle signified, doubt- 
less, is Arianism, which was so utterly repugnant 
to the Orthodox, or Catholic emperors, senators, 
consuls, bishops, clergy and laity of the Koman 
dominions, and which the Vandals, Heruli and 
Ostrogoths had established in the middle "third 
part" of the empire. The Heruli and the Ostro- 
goths were less bigoted in their Arianism, and 
less severe in their persecutions of the Catholics, 
than were the Vandals ; but it was a most bitter 
thing for the proud Romans to be in subjection 
to these barbarian heretics. 

"The sufferings of the Catholics under Genseric 
proved but a foretaste of their cruel persecution 
by Hunneric, who succeeded his father in A. D. 

477 On the mere charge of intimacy with 

the Catholics, the Arian patriarch, and many of 
his clergy, were burnt alive, and many of Hun- 
neric's own relations were put to death. The 
profession of Arianism was imposed as a condi- 
tion of public employment ; and all who refused 
to make it were banished. Nearly 5,000 of the 
Catholic bishops and clergy were exiled to 



THE FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS. 79 

Mauritania, with most cruel treatment ; and the 
virgins of the church were tortured to make them 
confess guilty intercourse with the clergy. These 
cruelties were followed by the mockery of sum- 
moning both parties to a public debate at Carth- 
age (Feb. 1, A. D. 484). The Arian patriarch, 
Cyrila, who was seated as president on a lofty 
throne, cut short the debate on the plea that he 
could not speak Latin. As if the Catholics had 
been worsted, Hunneric ordered all their church- 
es to be closed in one day, and the church prop- 
erty to be transferred to the Arians. By an 
edict, which recited the penalties imposed on 
Arians by the imperial laws, he not only subject- 
ed the Catholics to the same, but forbade any. 
one to give them food or lodging, on pain of be- 
ing burnt, with his house and family. He next 
required all the bishops to swear fealty to his 
son Hilderic as his successor. Forty-six who re- 
fused were sent to cut wood in Corsica ; while 
their plea, that Christians ought not to swear, 
was made a pretext for banishing the great ma- 
jority (302 in number) who had taken the oath. 
No less than 88 bishops yielded to persecution or 
cajolement, and abandoned the Catholic faith. 
... In the heat of the persecution, Hunneric 
died by the same loathsome disease as Herod, A. 



80 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

D. 484. Under his four successors, the Catholics 
still suffered in various degrees, though with 
some intervals of toleration, till the dominion of 
the Vandals was overthrown by Belisarius (A. D. 
534). But the province, long famed for its exu- 
berant fertility and teeming population, had been 
utterly ruined by the barbarian devastations 
and by famine and pestilence, having lost (as is 
computed) five millions of inhabitants. The 
number of bishoprics was reduced to one-half or 
one-third ; and Arianism was extirpated in the 
destruction of the Arians themselves." — Students' 
Eccles. Hist 388, 389. 

THE FOURTH TRUMPET. 

"And the fourth angel sounded; and the third part of the 
sun, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the 
stars, was smitten, that the third part might be darkened, and 
that the day might not shine for the third part of it, and the 
night in like manner." Rev. viii. 12. 

Here the sun symbolizes the regal power of the 
Gothic dominion, which was the seventh of the 
heads, or forms of government, that prevailed 
successively at Kome; the moon, the Roman 
senate; and the stars, the Roman consuls and 
magistrates. 

The sound of the third trumpet ceased in 534 
with the extinction of the kingdom of the Vand- 



THE FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS. 81 

als,and the blast of the fourth trumpet commenced 
in the same year with " the haughty mandate of 
Belisarius, who claimed the city and promontory 
of Lilybseum, and threatened, if the Romans took 
up arms, to deprive the Goths of all the provinces 
which they unjustly withheld from their lawful 
sovereign (the emperor Justinian) Justin- 
ian beheld with joy the dissensions of the Goths, 
and declared war against the perfidious assassin 
of Amalasoutha. Belisarius was sent with a 
small force to reduce Sicily ; the island submit- 
ted to his victorious arms almost without oppo- 
sition, and this province, the first-fruits of the 
Punic wars, was again, after a long separation, 
united to the P( n r n empire A. D. 535. 

In the following Spring Belisarius crossed over 
from Messina to Rhegium, and advanced, with- 
out opposition, along the shores of Rhegium, 
Lucania and Campania, till he reached Capua. 
.... They (the Romans) furiously exclaimed 
that the apostolic throne should no longer be 
profaned by the triumph or toleration of Arian- 
ism; that the tombs of the Csssars should no 
longer be trampled by the savages of the North ; 
and, without reflecting that Italy must sink into 
a province of Constantinople, they fondly hailed 
the restoration of a Roman emperor as a new era 



82 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBEES. 

of freedom and prosperity. The deputies of the 
Pope and clergy, of the senate and people, in- 
vited the lieutenant of Justinian to accept their 
voluntary allegiance. When Belisarius entered 
the city, the garrison departed without molesta- 
tion along the Flaminian Way ; and Rome, after 
sixty years servitude, was delivered from the 
yoke of the barbarians (A. D. 536, Deo. 10). Stu. 
Gibbon, 316-317. 

Belisarius "gained possession of Rome (Dec. A. 
D. 536), where for more than a year he was be- 
sieged by the Goths ; and although he made good 
his defence, almost the entire population of the 
city in the meantime perished by famine. Vitiges 
himself was next besieged in Ravenna, and was 
finally forced to surrender the place, and yield 
himself prisoner. (Dec. A. D. 539.) . . . The jeal- 
ousy of Justinian, however, having recalled Bel- 
isarius from Italy, in a few years the Goths re- 
covered their sway; but it was over a country 
almost deserted of its inhabitants. At length, in 
the year 552, Justinian formed in Italy an army 
of thirty thousand men, which he placed under 
the command of the eunuch Narses, who unex- 
pectedly proved to be an able general. In the 
following year the last of the Ostrogoth kings 
was slain in battle, and the empire of Justinian 



THE FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS. 83 

was extended over the deserted wastes of the 
once fertile and populous Italy. (A. D. 554)"— 
Will Out. Hist, 241. 

Thus, in A. D. 554, the sun, or the regal power 
of Rome and Italy, "was smitten," and as far as 
sun-light or regal authority was concerned, " the 
third part" was "darkened;" but the moon and 
the stars, or the Roman senate and the consuls 
and magistrates, which had continued the exer- 
cise of their functions during the reigns of the 
Heruli and Goths, still afforded a feeble light. 
But "Longinus was sent in the year 566 (or 567), 
by the emperor Justin II., to govern Italy with 
absolute authority ; and he changed the whole 
form of the government, abolished the senate, 
and consuls, and all the former magistrates in 
Rome and Italy, and in every city of note consti- 
tuted a new governor with the title of Duke. 
He himself presided over all ; and residing at 
Ravenna, and not at Rome, he was called the ex- 
arch of Ravenna, as were also his successors in 
the same office. Rome was degraded to the same 
level with other places, and from being the queen 
of cities and the empress of the world, was re- 
duced to a poor dukedom, and made tributary to 
Ravenna, which she had used to govern."— Diss. 
Proph. 541. 



84 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

The darkening of Rome and Italy, which, was 
begun by Belisarius, continued by Narses, and 
furthered by Longinus, was completed by Alboin 
the king of the Lombards, who invaded the 
"third part" in A. D. 568, when "from the Tren- 
tine hills to the gates of Ravenna and Rome, the 
inland regions of Italy became, without a battle or 
a siege, the lasting patrimony of the Lombards. 
. . . The reign of the founder was splendid and 
transient ; and, before he could regulate his new 
conquests, Alboin fell a sacrifice to domestic 
treason and female revenge"— being murdered 
at the instigation of his wife, Rosamond, in A. D. 
573. And with the life of Alboin, ended the 
period of the darkening of the sun, moon and 
stars. 

In the darkness of A. D. 554, another great 
light, the Papacy, began to rise in Rome. Its 
lustre was augmented in A. D. 567 and 573 by the 
darkening of the moon and stars ; and continu- 
ing its rapid growth, in A. D. 607 and 681 it ex- 
tracted the brightest rays from the imperial sun 
of the Eastern sky, and in A. D. 1210 it outshone 
or eclipsed all other luminaries of the heavens— 
in the estimation of man. In subsequent chap- 
ters we shall observe how God, who sees not as 
man sees, regarded its brilliancy. 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE TEN-HORSED BEAST. 



"And I stood on the sand of the sea, and saw a beast coming 
out of the sea, and he had seven heads and ten horns, and on 
his horns ten diadems, and on his heads names impiously irrev- 
erent," etc. Rev. xiii. 1-10. 

Ill the twelfth and thirteenth chapters, the 
Eevelator presents the several forms of Christi- 
anity that should prevail in the world from the 
time of the Apostles to the end of this age. The 
first, that of the pure persecuted church, is sym- 
bolized by the woman clothed with the sun ; the 
second, Christianity amalgamated with the civil 
power, is designated by the ten-horned beast 
coming out of the sea ; and the third, the idola- 
trous Papal church, is presented as a two-horned 
beast coming out of the earth. These rise suc- 
cessively, but subsequently they are cotemporary. 

To stand in its proper chronological order the 
thirteenth chapter of the Revelation should occu- 
py the break between the sixth and seventh 
verses of the twelfth chapter, as the period of the 
beast that came out of the sea, and that of the 
beast that came out of the earth, comprises the 



86 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

1260 days or years intervening between the flight 
of the woman into the wilderness, and the en- 
gagement of Michael with the dragon. 

We will notice some of the characteristics of 
the beast that came out of the sea : 

1. Its seven heads allude to the seven forms 
of supreme government that prevailed succes- 
sively at Rome from the time of Romulus to the 
rise of the eighth head, the Papacy, called the 
"little horn" in Dan. vii : for the Romans were 
governed by 1. Kings ; 2. Consuls ; 3. Dictators ; 
4. Decemvirs ; 5. Military Tribunes ; 6. Emperors; 
7. Barbarian conquerors ; and finally by the 
Popes, the eighth head of Rev. xvii. 11. 

2. The ten horns wearing diadems or crowns, 
signify the ten monarchies that were developed 
on the disruption of the Roman empire, and which 
with the time of their rise, Bishop Lloyd enumer 
ates thus : "1. Huns, about A. D. 356 ; 2. Ostro 
goths, A. D. 377; 3. Visigoths, A. D. 378; 4 
Franks, A. D. 407; 5. Vandals, A. I). 407; 6 
Suevi and Alans, A. D. 407; 7. Burgundians 
A.D. 407; 8. Heruli and Rugians, A. D. 476; 9 
Saxons, A. D. 476 ; 10. Longobards in Hungary, 
A. D. 526."— Diss. Proph., 233. 

3. This beast that came out of the sea, or the 
popular agitations and political and religious 



THE TEN-HORNED BEAST. 87 

commotions attending the overthrow of Pagan- 
ism, was like a leopard (Grecian), and his feet 
were as those of a bear (Persian), and his mouth 
was as the month of a lion (Babylonian) ; and 
being made up of these fierce animals it consti- 
tuted the great and terrible beast of Dan. vii., 
but in its last, or Christian form, for it rose after 
John was at Patmos, and was soon divided into 
ten separate parts, toes, or horns. Hence we 
must conclude that the second form of Christi- 
anity, was the imperial, hierarchical system of 
Constantine, of which the Roman emperors were 
the head, and over which they exercised supreme 
authority. 

4. It received its power, or armies ; its throne, 
or seat of government ; and its great authority, 
or civil and religious supremacy, from the dragon, 
or Rome Pagan. This exactly corresponds with 
the succession of Constantine and his civil and 
religious polity, to the heathen emperors, and 
their pagan religion. 

5. The one of its seven heads that received 
the wound, which was afterwards healed, was 
the sixth, or imperial form of government, and 
the deadly wound was inflicted by the Heruli, 
Avho in A. D. 476, dethroned and banished the 
emperor Augustulus ; but the wound was healed 



55 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

in A. D. 554, when Narses subdued trie Ostro- 
goths, and brought Italy under the authority of 
the emperor Justinian. 

6. The beast was to continue with unbroken 
power for forty-two months, or 1260 symbolic 
days, or 1260 prophetic years ; he was to utter 
impious words against God, to make war upon, 
and overcome the saints ; but as he lead into cap- 
tivity, and killed with the sword, so he himself 
must be led into captivity, and be killed with 
the sword. 

These points will be noticed more fully further 
on. 



CHAPTER Vm. 

THE TWO-HOEOTED BEAST. 

"And I saw another beast coming out of the earth; and he 
had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. And he 
exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence ; 
and he causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship 
the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed," etc. Rev. xiv. 
11-18. 

A proper understanding of the exact time and 
manner of the rise of this papal or clerical beast, 
is of the utmost importance in order to a correct 
adaptation of the facts and events of modern 
history to the prophetic declarations of Holy 
Scripture ; and, happily, much light on this sub- 
ject may be derived from what is said in the 
seventh chapter of Daniel, and the seventeenth 
of the Revelation. 

The imperial beast rose out of the swelling sea 
of civil and religious commotion, but the papal 
beast rises out of the solid earth, and grows al- 
most imperceptibly until it assumes vast propor- 
tions, and commits deeds worthy of its dark and 
deadly character. 

The papal beast was to rise after the ten horns 



90 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

of the imperial beast were developed, for Daniel 
says: "I considered the horns, and behold, there 
came up among them another little horn, before 
whom there were three of the first horns plucked 
up by the roots. . . . And the ten horns out of 
this kingdom (the Roman empire) are ten kings 
(or kingdoms) that shall rise ; and another shall 
rise after them ; and he shall be diverse from the 
first, and he shall subdue three kings" (or king- 
doms). Dan. vii. 8-24. 

Before the rising "little horn" three of the ten 
horns, or monarchies, enumerated in the last 
chapter, were to be "plucked up by the roots." 
We will endeavor to find which three of the ten 
these were. 

About the beginning of the fourth century, 
Arius, a presbyter of Alexandria, taught that 
the Son of God was not coequal with the Father, 
and his doctrine, called Arianism, was soon ac- 
cepted throughout the Christian Church. By 
the council of Nice, the Mcene creed was adopt- 
ed, and Arianism condemned ; and towards the 
end of the fourth century, by anathema, and 
more violent measures, it was suppressed within 
the Roman empire, but it continued to prevail 
among the Germanic tribes. In the latter part 
of the fourth century (as we saw in the sixth 



THE TWO-HORDED BEAST. 91 

chapter) the barbarian tribes of the North began 
to invade the Roman dominions, and the empire 
became more and more enfeebled until A. D. 476, 
when Odoacer, the chief of the Heruli (who were 
Arians) took Eome, abolished the imperial titles 
of Caesar and Augustus, and proclaimed himself 
king of Italy. This event placed one of the ten 
horns in the way of the rising papacy. The Her- 
uli, being Arians, were very offensive to the 
bishop of Eome, and to the emperor Zeno at Con- 
stantinople, and the latter induced Theodoric, 
king of the Ostrogoths, to invade " Italy, then 
ruled by the usurper Odoacer. Consequently, in 
A. D. 488, he marched toward the peninsula at 
the head of his whole people, amounting to 
about 200,000, with a large number of wagons. 
He first met in the Alpine passes and routed an 
army of the Gepidas and Sarmatians, then de- 
feated Odoacer himself on the banks of the 
Sontius (Isonzo), in A. D. 489. After two other 
victories, one on the banks of the Adige, and the 
other on those of the Adda, he shut his opponent 
within the walls of Ravenna, and after a siege of 
three years received his capitulation in A. D. 
493, apparently consenting to share the kingdom 
of Italy with him; but Theodoric soon after 
had his rival assassinated at a solemn banquet, 



92 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

and firmly established his power over the whole 
peninsula."— American Cyclopaedia, u Theodoric." 
Thus was the first of the three "horns plucked 
up by the roots." 

"The second kingdom that stood in the way of 
the "little horn" was that of the Vandals, who, 
in A. D. 429, under Genseric, crossed over into 
Africa with a powerful fleet, and although num- 
bering not more than 50,000, they conquered the 
whole of the northern coast as far as Tunis, and 
subsequently gained possession also of Sicily, 
Sardinia, Corsica, the Baleares," and parts of 
Italy. "All the shores of the Mediterranean from 
Asia Minor and Egypt to the straits of Gibralter 
were now ravaged by the Vandals." "Iii A. ]). 
455 they sacked Rome." 

"A fleet sent by the emperor Majorian (A. D. 
457) to check these ravages was destroyed in the 
bay of Cartagena ; nor was another sent by the 
Byzantine emperor Leo (A. D. 468), more success- 
ful, and Genseric reigned victoriously until his 
death." "Having adopted the Arian creed, he 
persecuted the orthodox Christians. For more 
than a century they maintained their power in 
Africa, with Carthage as their capital, until it 
was overthrown by Belisarius, the general of the 
emperor Justinian, who conquered their last king 



THE TWO-HORNED BEAST. 93 

Gelimer in A. D. 534. After this defeat tkey dis- 
appear from history. 11 {Am. Cyc, " Vandals" and 
"Genseric") They were "plucked up by the roots." 
The third monarchy that was plucked up to 
make room for the Papacy was that of the Ostro- 
goths, who, as we saw above, established them- 
selves in Italy by the subjugation of the Heruli. 
During Theodoric's reign of thirty-three years, 
Italy enjoyed a good degree of prosperity, and 
although an Arian, he seldom persecuted the 
Catholics ; but after his death his successors 
were unable long to retain the benefits of his 
conquests and wise legislation. "Profiting by 
the Gothic disorders consequent upon the death 
of Theodoric in A. D. 526, Justinian sent Bslis- 
arius to Italy. He took Pome, and gaining the 
admiration of the Goths, was invited to be their 
king. This he refused, but held the Goths in 
subjection for his master. Totila, a noble Goth, 
rebelled, and mastered Southern Italy. He was 
about to destroy Pome, but yielding to the remon- 
strance of Belisarius that it would add more to 
his honor to spare it, contented himself with 
dispersing the inhabitants, (A. D. 546,) and repeo- 
pling it before the arrival of a fresh army from 
Constantinople, under Narses. Totila fell in 
battle (A. I). 552,) and his successor, Teias, suf- 



94 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

fered the same fate (A. D. 553). Italy was recon- 
quered, and the Gothic monarchy, founded by 
Theodoric the Great, was extinguished." — Am. 
Cyc. " Goths." 

"The Goths were again defeated ; Teias, their 
last king, was slain in battle, A. D. 553, and 
Aligern (Teias' brother) after defending Cumse 
above a year against the forces of the Komans, at 
length surrendered to Narses. After the death 
of Teias, Italy was overwhelmed by a new deluge 

of barbarians Two brothers, Lothaire 

and Buccelin, the dukes of the Alemanni, stood 
forth as the leaders of the Italian war, and 75,000 
Germans descended in the Autumn (A. D. 553) 
from the Rhaetian Alps into the plain of Milan. 
... At the entrance of the Spring (A. D. 554) 
the Imperial troops who had guarded the cities 
assembled to the number of 18,000 in the neigh- 
borhood of Rome. . . . Narses gained another 
signal victory; and Buccelin and the greatest 
part of his army perished on the field of battle, 
in the waters of the Vulturnus, or by the hands 
of the enraged peasants. After the battle of Cas- 
ilinum, Narses entered the capital ; the arms and 
treasures of the Goths, the Franks, and the Ale- 
manni were displayed; his soldiers, with gar- 
lands in their hands, chanted the praises of the 



THE TWOHOKNED BEAST. 95 

conqueror ; and Rome, for the last time, beheld 
the semblance of a triumph." — Stu. Gib. 332. 

u At length, in the year 552, Justinian formed 
in Italy an army of thirty thousand men, which 
he placed under the command of the eunuch 
Narses, who unexpectedly proved to be an able 
general. In the following year the last of the 
Ostrogoth kings was slain in battle, and the em- 
pire of Justinian was extended over the deserted 
waste of the once fertile and populous Italy. (A. 
D. 554)"— Will Out. Hist. 241. 

"The conquest of Italy was begun by Belisar- 
ius (A. D. 535,) and completed by the eunuch 
Narses, who was established as the imperial vice- 
gerent or Exarch, at Ravenna, in A. D. 554." — 
Student's Heel. Hist. 393. 

"The Gothic kingdom lasted only till the year 
554, when it was overthrown by Narses, the gen- 
eral of Justinian."— Will. Out. Hist. 213. 

We are particular thus to establish by the con- 
current testimonies of several reliable authors, 
the time when the last of the three horns was 
" plucked up by the roots," because at that very 
time, the " little horn," the Papacy, rose up in its 
place. 

To the Revelator it was said (Rev. xvii. 10, 11.) : 
"And there are seven kings (forms of government), 



96 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

five have fallen (Kings, Consuls, Dictators, De- 
cemvirs and Military Tribunes,) one is, (Emperors 
were reigning in John's time,) and the other 
(Gothic or Barbarian) has not yet come ; and when 
he comes, he must remain but a little while (the 
barbarian lasted only 78 years— A. D. 476-554 — 
while the preceding imperial continued about 500 
years, and the succeeding Papal over 1200 years). 
And the beast that was, and is not (the Papacy,) 
even he is the eighth, and is of the seven;" or, 
the Papacy is the immediate successor of the 
Gothic. Consequently, at the exact point where 
the period of the seventh, the Gothic, ended, 
there the time of the eighth, the Papal, began ; 
and this, as we have shown above, was in the 
year A. D. 554. 

This second, or clerical, beast "had two horns 
like a lamb," which may allude (a) to the Pope of 
Rome and the Patriarch of Constantinople ; (b) 
to the temporal and spiritual powers of the popes; 
(c) to the regular and secular clergy of the Papal 
church; and (d) especially to the Franciscan and 
Dominican friars, who adorned the head of the 
matured Anti-Christ when the "little horn" be- 
came "more stout than his fellows" and "spoke as 
a dragon." 

"And he exercises all the authority (temporal 



THE TWO-HORNED BEAST. 97 

and spiritual despotism) of the first beast (the 
imperial or Constaiitiiiian polity) in his presence 
(the clerical and the imperial beasts are cotem- 
porary from the rise of the former to the end of 
this age) ; and he causes the earth and those who 
dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose 
deadly wound was healed (the Papacy compels 
men to reverence and submit to the emperors of 
the East, and their exarchs at Ravenna). And 
he does great signs, and even causes fire to de- 
scend from heaven upon the earth in the sight of 
men (the authority of the Papal Church has been 
maintained in a great measure, by pretended 
miracles). And he deceives those who dwell on 
the earth, by means of the signs which he is 
allowed to do in the presence of the beast (the 
pretensions of the Popes are favored by the em- 
perors that the subjection of men to despotic 
authority may be facilitated), saying to those 
who dwell on the earth that they should make 
an image for the beast which had the wound of 
the sword and did live (the imperial authority 
was wounded or destroyed by Ocloacer, and re- 
stored by Narses). And it was granted him to 
give spirit to the image of the beast, that the 
image of the beast should both speak, and cause 
as many as would not worship the image of the 



98 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBEES. 

beast, to be killed," — the Pope possessed and 
exercised the power of restoring or reproducing 
the empire of the West, which had been extin- 
guished by the Heruli, and he did it thus : "A 
conspiracy in Rome having forced the Pope to 
seek the protection of Charlemagne, in the year 
800, the latter visited Pome in person to pun- 
ish the evil doers. While he was there attend- 
ing services in St. Paul's Church, at the Christ- 
mas festival, the gratified pontiff placed upon his 
head a crown of gold, and, in the formula ob- 
served for the Roman emperors, and amid the 
acclamations of the people, saluted him by the 
titles of Emperor and Augustus. This act was 
considered as indicating the revival of the Em- 
pire of the West, after an interruption of about 
three centuries." — Will. Out. Hist, 259. 

The object of the Pope, Leo III., in creating 
Charlemagne Emperor of Rome and the West, is 
clearly stated in the prophecy. It was to effect 
the entire subjection of all mei\ "small and 
great, rich and poor, free and bond" to ecclesiasti- 
cal and civil despotism, and that the civil arm 
should be employed, so that all who were not 
Catholics and Imperialists, and refused to obey 
and worship the tyrants of the Church and State, 
should be killed, or debarred from buying and 



THE TWO-HORKED BEAST. 99 

selling, and all other common rights and privi- 
leges of humanity. 

"Here is wisdom. Let him that has under- 
standing count the number of the beast ; for it is 
the number of a man, and his number is six hun- 
dred and sixty-six." Here we have a prophetic 
number to dispose of. In ancient times it was 
customary to designate names by numbers : the 
first nine letters of the Greek alphabet repre- 
sented the units, the next nine letters the tens, 
and the third nine letters the hundreds, etc. 
Many learned men have endeavored, by the num- 
ber 666 to write the name of the two-horned 
beast whose natural history we are now study- 
ing. 

"No name appears more proper and suitable 
than that famous one mentioned by Irenaeus, 
who lived not long after St. John's time, and was 
the disciple of Polycarp the disciple of John. 
He saith, that 'the name Lateinos contains the 
number 666 ; and it is very likely, because the 
last kingdom is so called, for they are Latins who 
now reign : . . . Lateinos with ei is the true 
orthography, as the Greeks wrote the long i of 
the Latins, and as the Latins themselves wrote 
in former times ; . . . and as Dr. Henry More 
expresseth it, they Latinize in everything. 'Mass, 



100 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

prayers, hymns, litanies, canons, decretals, bulls, 
are conceived in Latin.' And probably as the 
apostle hath made use of some Hebrew names in 
this book, as 'Abaddon,' ix. 11., and 'Armaged- 
don,' xvi. 16, so might he in this place likewise 
allude to the name in the Hebrew language. 
Now 'Romiith' is the Hebrew name for 'Roman 
beast' or 'Roman kingdom:' and this word, as 
well as the former word 'Lateinos' contains the 
just and exact number 666. It is really surpris- 
ing that there should be such a fatal coincidence 
in both names in both languages. Mr. Pyle as- 
serts, and I believe he may assert very truly, that 
'no other word, in any language whatever, can 
be found to express both the same number, and 
the same thing.' "—Diss. Proph., 619. 

Others have found out that, in the Latin lan- 
guage, 666 signifies "Vicar of the Son of God," 
which the Popes have had inscribed upon their 
mitres, and on the door of the Vatican. 

We have then, in the Hebrew language, "Ro- 
miith," meaning "Roman kingdom" and "Roman 
beast," and signifying both the origin and the 
place of the two-horned beast; in the Greek 
tongue "Lateinos," indicating the language in 
which "the little horn" "speaks great words 
against the Most High ;" and in the Latin Ian- 



THE TW0-H0BNED BEAST. 101 

guage "Vicar of the Son of God," as one of the 
many blasphemous titles that the "Mother of 
Harlots" assumes in order to "reign over the 
kings of the earth," and to "corrupt the earth 
with her lewdness." 

How wonderful are the means afforded for 
identifying the "Antichrist," "the Man of Sin!" 
For as the blessed Jesus, the true Christ, the Son 
of God, the Savior of men, had His superscrip- 
tion, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews," 
written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin, so the 
Omniscient has designated the Antichrist, the 
enemy of God and man, in the same three lan- 
guages. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE FIFTH TRUMPET — THE FIRST WOE. 

A. D. 554—1076. 



"And the fifth angel sounded ; and I saw a star fall from 
heaven to the earth ; and there was given to him the key of the 
pit of the abyss ; and he opened the pit of the abyss ; and there 
arose a smoke out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; 
and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit.'" 
Rev. ix. 1-11. 

The first four trumpets referred to the removal 
of Imperial Romanism from Rome, so that Clerical 
and Papal Romanism might rise up and develop 
in its place ; and the fifth trumpet alludes first 
to the origin and development of the Papacy, and 
then to the divine method of restraining its terri- 
ble power. 

In Rev. viii. 13, we read : "And I saw and heard 
an eagle, as he flew in mid-heaven, saying, with 
a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants 
of the earth (the Roman world) because of the 
remaining voices of the trumpets of the three 
angels which are yet to sound." It may be stated 
here that the three woes are the restraint, the 



THE FIFTH TRUMPET — THE FIRST WOE. 103 

affliction, and the destruction that the Saracens, 
the Turks and the Protestants were to bring upon 
the dragon and the beast, or Imperial and Cler- 
ical Romanism. As soon as the Papacy was ma- 
tured by the grant of supreme spiritual author- 
ity, made to Pope Boniface III. by the tyrant 
Phocas, in A. D. 606 or 607, Mohammed entered 
his cave to fabricate the system of Islamism, 
which has been the antidote to Romanism, cir- 
cumscribing its dominion, and restraining its 
power ; and without which, humanly speaking, no 
reformation or relief from the terrible darkness 
and despotism of the middle ages would have 
been possible. 

The first thing that resulted from the sound- 
ing of the fifth trumpet was the falling of a star 
from heaven to the earth. In Rev. xii. 1., the 
"twelve stars" refer to the twelve Apostles of our 
Lord, and in Rev. i. 20, the "seven stars" are the 
symbols of the chief pastors or bishops of the 
seven churches of Asia, and here, this star alludes 
to the bishop of Rome who fell from the heaven 
of spirituality, to the earth of worldly cares, am- 
bition and pride, or became secularized in A. D. 
554, on becoming the "little horn" of Dan. vii. 8, 
and the eighth head of Rev. xvii. 9. 

In A. D. 553, for a breach of faith with the 



104 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

emperor, Pope Vigilius was in a manner deposed 
by the Fifth G-eneral Council, and "Pelagius was 
chosen his successor through the influence of 
Justinian (A. D. 555) ; and for the first time the 
emperor assumed authority to confirm the elec- 
tion of a Pope. With the aid of Narses, Pelagius 
enforced the decrees of Constantinople by depo- 
sition, banishment and civil penalties, but they 
were generally resisted in the West. The bish- 
ops of Northern Italy, Illyria, and Africa, sepa- 
rated from Pome ; and the schism was only partly 
healed by Pope Gregory the Great about the end 
of the century."— Stu. Eccles. Hist, 374. 

This quotation refers to some of the events 
which occurred at the commencement of the time 
during which the Popes, or the Roman See, fell 
from heaven to the earth : — (a\ Pope Vigilius 
fell in the estimation of, and was disgraced by, 
the Emperor and the General Council ; (b), Pela- 
gius, as a creature and faithful servant of the 
Emperor, in an earthly, secular and tyrannical 
manner, and by the aid of the civil arm of the 
exarch Narses, enforced u by deposition, banish- 
ment, and civil penalties," the doctrinal decrees of 
the first beast, Justinian, whose imperial author- 
ity had just been extended over Italy, so that 
Pelagius, in this manner, caused the earth and 



THE FIFTH TEUMPET — THE FIEST WOE. 105 

those who dwell in it to worship the first beast 
whose deadly wound was healed." Rev. xiii. 12 ; 
and (c), when the second beast, Pelagius, "exer- 
cised all the authority (civil and ecclesiastical 
despotism) of the first beast (Justinian, a succes- 
sor and imitator of Constantine) in his presence," 
or within his dominions, the See of Rome fell in 
the estimation of her former adherents, and "the 
bishops of Northern Italy, Illyria, and Africa, 
separated from Rome." Yet the See of Rome 
was now a "horn" or despotic power, though 
"little," and it continued to grow larger and 
stronger. 

This prophecy refers to the fall or seculariza- 
tion of the Roman See during a period of several 
years, (A. I). 554-632), but it alludes especially to 
the terrible fall of Pope Gregory, whom men call 
Great ; and we will now have Gregory himself re- 
late to us exactly how it happened. In a letter 
"to Theoctesta, sister to the emperor," he says : — 

"Under color of the bishopric, I find I am 
brought back to the world, in which I am enslaved 
to such a quality of earthly cares, as I never re- 
membered to have been infested with in my lay 
capacity. I have lost the sublime joys of myself ; 
and, sinking inwardly, seem to rise externally. I 
deplore my expulsion from the face of my Maker. 



106 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

I was endeavoring to live out of the world and 
the flesh ; to drive away all the phantasms of 
body from the eyes of my mind, and to see super- 
nal joys mentally; and with my inmost soul 
panting after God, I said, My heart hath said to 
thee, 'Thy face, Lord, will I seek.' . . . But 
suddenly, from the height of peace and stability, 
impelled by the whirlwind of this temptation, I 
have fallen into fears and terrors ; ... I am 
shaken with the fluctuations of causes on all 
sides, and say, 'I am come into deep waters, so 
that the floods run over me.' After the hurry of 
the causes is over, I desire to return to my heart, 
but excluded from it by the vain tumult of 
thoughts, I cannot return." — Hist of the Church 
of Christ, vol. 3, p. 31. 

"Ah, Lord, with trembling I confess, 

A gracious soul may fall from grace ; 
The salt may loose its seasoning power, 

And never, never find it more. 
Lest this my fearful case should be, 

Each moment knit my soul to thee ; 
And lead me to the mount above, 

Through the low vale of humble love." 

That Gregory had been a truly pious, spiritual- 
minded Christian, is evident, both from the 
prophecy and his own statements; and that he 
fell from his exalted state of heavenly-minded 



THE FIFTH TKUMPET— THE FIEST WOE. 107 

ness and became earthly and sensual, proud and 
ambitious, is equally clear from his own testi- 
mony, that of the Scripture, and that of histori- 
cal writers, which we will now see. 

"And there was given to him the key of the pit 
of the abyss." "It has been observed that Greg- 
ory was the first who asserted the power of the 
Keys, as committed to the successor of St. Peter, 
rather than to the body of bishops; and he be- 
trayed on many occasions a very ridiculous 
eagerness to secure their honor. Consequently, 
he was profuse in his distribution of certain 
keys, endowed, as he was not ashamed to assert, 
with supernatural qualities ; he even ventured to 
insult Anastasius, the Patriarch of Antioch, by 
such a gift. I have sent you (he says) keys of the 
blessed Apostle Peter, your guardian, which, 
when placed upon the sick, are wont to be re- 
splendent with numerous miracles." — Wadding- 
tori 's Church History, 143. 

"And he opened the pit of the abyss" (estab- 
lished Purgatory \ Rev. ix. 2. "During the four 
first centuries there was no mention or thought 
of Purgatory, . . . but the credit of establish- 
ing it among the unquestionable truths of the 
Church is due to the superstition or craft of 
Gregory the Great. . . . The consequence, 



108 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

which presently followed from the establishment 
of a place of temporary punishment, or purifica- 
tion for departed souls, was, that the successor of 
St. Peter assumed, through the power of the 
keys, unlimited authority there. By indulgence, 
issued at the discretion of the Pope, the sinner 
(in the theory, the repentant sinner) was released 
from suffering, and immediately passed into a 
state of grace."— Wad. Oh. Hist, 186 and 510. 

"And there arose a smoke (false doctrines, su- 
perstition and idolatry) out of the pit, like the 
smoke of a great furnace ; and the sun and the 
air were darkened by the smoke of the pit" (Rev. 
ix. 2); that is, the light of the Sun of righteous- 
ness, and the pure doctrines of the Gospel, which 
are as necessary to sustain the divine light and 
life of the soul as the natural sun and air are to 
support the physical life of the body, were ob- 
scured and corrupted by the false doctrines, su- 
perstition, and idolatry, invented, or established, 
or encouraged by Gregory, and other fallen min- 
isters of the Apostate Church. 

"More firmly rooted each succeeding year, the 
noxious plants of superstition continued to throw 
out a number of strong and vigorous branches, 
which were carefully encouraged and cultivated. 
They were indeed an unfailing source of profit 



THE FIFTH TRUMPET — THE FIRST WOE. 109 

to the corrupt ministers of the Church. The 
people were instructed that by their liberality to 
the clergy, or to the monastry, they conciliated 
the favor of Heaven, and obtained the interces- 
sion of departed saints. . . . The corrupt doc- 
trines of religion received, if no improvement, no 
very considerable alterations, in the sixth cen- 
tury. The torments of an intermediate state 
were loudly insisted upon to the ignorant multi- 
tudes at this time by the superstitious Gregory, 
whom the Romish Church has chosen to distin- 
guish by the appellation of Great. . . . The 
primitive doctrines of the Gospel were so entire- 
ly obscured by superstition, and so imperfectly 
understood, that great numbers began to conceive 
that the profession of religion was all that was 
necessary for acceptance with God. . . . Every 
superstitious practice of this period met with a 
steady and zealous patron in Gregory the Great, 
who encouraged the use of pictures and images 
in churches, and strongly insisted upon the effi- 
cacy of relics."— Ruter's Church History, 126, 
129. 

As stated above, this prophecy alludes to the 
See of Rome, and especially to Pope Gregory; but 
it also indicates the state of the Eastern Church, 
and the Patriarch of Constantinople. The Pope 



110 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

and Patriarch were now the two horns of the 
Clerical beast, and two fallen and extinguished 
stars of heaven. Their Sees alike were filled 
with false doctrines, superstition and idolatry, 
and their souls with vanity, pride and ambition. 
"In A. D. 588, at a Synod called at Constanti- 
nople, .... John, surnamed the Faster, who 
was then Primate of the East, adopted, as we 
have observed, the title of (Ecumenical, or Uni- 
versal Bishop. It appears that this title had 
been conferred on the patriarchs by the Empe- 
rors Leo and Justinian, without any accession of 
power ; nor was it, in fact, understood to indicate 
any claim to supremacy beyond the limits of the 
Eastern Church. But Gregory could not brook 
such assumption in an Eastern Prelate, and used 
every endeavor to deprive his rival of the obnox- 
ious title, and at the same time to establish his 
own superiority. He failed in both these at- 
tempts — at least his success was confined to the 
Western clergy, and to the interested and preca- 
rious assent of the discontented subjects of the 
Eastern Church. The quarrel proceeded during 
the seventh century, and the Roman Catholic 
writers confidently assert that the Emperor 
Phocas (a sanguinary usurper), through the in- 
fluence of Pope Boniface III., transferred the dis- 



THE FIFTH TRUMPET — THE FIRST WOE. Ill 

puted title from trie Greek to trie Eoman Pontiff." 
-Wad. Ok. Hist., 174. 

" The jealous uneasiness of Gregory at the pride 
of John, Bishop of Constantinople, has already 
been mentioned. The title of Universal Bishop 
had, upon his own application, been conferred 
upon him in an eastern council. .... Greg- 
ory was the more vexed at this because the Synod 
of Chalcedon had offered the same title to the 
Roman bishops, and they had not accepted it. 
. . . . But it continues to this day the title of 
his successors, a standing mark of egregious 
hypocrisy ! Gregory had an enormous notion of 
the pre-eminence of his own See as belonging to 
St. Peter. . . . He solicited the Emperor 
Mauritius on the subject, but in vain. . . . 
Phocas took away the title of Universal Bishop 
from the Prelate of Constantinople, and granted 
it to Boniface III., the next successor but one to 
Gregory. After Phocas' death the prelate of the 
East re-assumed the title. The two bishops each 
preserved it, and with equal ambition strove 
for the pre-eminence." — Hist. Church Christ, vol. 
3,48,52. 

" Gregory the Great asserted in lofty terms the 
rights of the Romish See to an entire supremacy 
over the whole Christian world Those 



112 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

claims to dominion and supremacy, which at first 
were but faintly urged by the Roman pontiffs, 
were continually extended, and as continually 
successful ; new titles, and even those which had 
occasioned the warmest opposition from the fol- 
lowers of St. Peter, when conferred upon their 
brethren of Constantinople, were eagerly sought 
for, and gratefully received by bishops of Rome 
for themselves. The artful Boniface III., who 
had for some years resided as nuncio at the im- 
perial court, did not disdain to insinuate himself 
into the good opinions of the infamous Phocas, 
or to receive with gratitude the effects of his fa- 
vor. The Romish patriarchs were permitted in 
future to assume the title of (Ecumenical or Uni- 
versal bishops. . . . But the demands of am- 
bition and vanity were insatiable ; and the lead- 
ers of the Romish Church were so little contented 
with the honors they had already acquired, that 
Agatho laid claim to a privilege never yet en- 
joyed by man ; and asserted that the Church of 
Rome never had erred ; nor could err in any 
point, and that all its constitutions ought to be as 
implicitly received as if they had been delivered 
by the divine voice of St. Peter. . . . The au- 
thority exercised by the clergy extended as well 
to the superior as to the inferior classes of man- 



THE FIFTH TRUMPET — THE FIRST WOE. 113 

kind ; and the twelfth council of Toledo, in the 
year 681, presumed to release the subjects of 
Wamba from their allegiance to their sove- 
reign." — Bitter's Church History, pages 122, 142, 
143, 148. 

"And out of the smoke there came locusts upon 
the earth." Rev. ix. 3. The locusts symbolically 
represent the followers of Mohammed who was 
induced by the terrible corruptions, fierce con- 
tentions, and dreadful idolatry prevalent among 
Christians and others to fabricate his system of 
religion to supercede the star worship of the 
Arabians, the fire-earth-and-water worship of the 
Persians, and the worship of dead men and 
women, images, pictures, paintings, and relics by 
the Greeks and Romans. Hence it is that the 
locusts, or Mohammedan Arabs, are represented 
as originating in, and coming out of the darkness 
and smoke, or the corrupt practices, false doc- 
trines, and idolatrous worship of degenerated 
Christendom. 

The Arabs are the descendents of Abraham's 
son Ishmael, to whose mother the angel of the 
Lord said : "I will multiply thy seed exceeding- 
ly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude," 
and of her son the angel said : "And he will be a 
wild man; his hand shall be against every 



114 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

man, and every man's hand against him, and 
he shall dwell in the presence of his breth- 
ren." Gen. xvi. 10, 12. And, according to this 
promise, Ishmael's descendents, the Arabs, have 
been a distinct and independent people for nearly 
four thousand yea ^s. 

Mohammed, the founder of Islamism, was born 
in Mecca in the year 569. His parents were of 
"the tribe of the Koreish, and of the family of 
Hashem, the most illustrious of the Arabs, the 
princes of Mecca, and the hereditary guardians 
of the Cabba," or the great temple of Mecca. 
Mohammed's parents were poor, and dying dur- 
ing his infancy, leaving him only 1iYe camels and 
a female slave of Ethiopia, entrusted him to the 
care of his grandfather, and uncle, Abu-Taleb. 
By the latter he was trained to the business of a 
traveling merchant. When twenty-five years of 
age Mohammed entered the service of Cadi j ah, 
a widow of one of the chief citizens of Mecca, and 
in her service he traveled with her camels and 
her merchandise to the great fair at Damascus. 
To this lady he so commended himself by his 
engaging qualities that in three years she became 
his wife. By his extensive travels he was brought 
in contact with men of all religions, and various 
nations ; and he obtained that knowledge of opin- 



THE FIFTH TRUMPET — THE FIEST WOE. 115 

ions, and of the state of the surrounding govern- 
ments, with their religious and political institu- 
tions, of which he made use in his solitary medi- 
tations in later years. 

"With the exception of the children of Israel 
the religions of the world were guilty, at least in 
the eyes of the prophet, of giving sons, or daugh- 
ters, or companions to the Supreme Grocl. In the 
rude idolatry of the Arabs the crime is manifest 
and audacious : the Sabians are poorly excused 
by the pre-eminence of the first planet, or intelli- 
gence, in their celestial hierarchy ; and in the 
Magian system the conflict of the two principles 
betrays the imperfection of the conqueror. The 
Christians of the seventh century had insensibly 
relapsed into a semblance of paganism ; their 
public and private vows were addressed to the 
relics and images that disgraced the temples of 
the east : the throne of the Almighty was dark- 
ened by a cloud of martyrs, and saints, and 
angels, the objects of popular veneration; and 
the Collyridian heretics, who nourished in the 
fruitful soil of Arabia, invested the Virgin Mary 
with the name and honors of a goddess. The 
creed of Mahomet is free from suspicion and am- 
biguity ; and the Koran is a glorious testimony 
to the unity of God. The prophet of Mecca re- 



116 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

jected the worship of idols and men, of stars and 
planets, on the rational principle that whatever 
rises must set, that whatever is born must die, 
that whatever is corruptible must decay and 
perish."— /S^w. Gib., 453. 

In the year 606 Mohammed conceived the idea 
of instituting a system of religion that should be 
regarded as superior and acceptable by all the 
surrounding nations, and during three years (A. 
D. 606-609) he was occupied in developing his doc- 
trines and plans. During this time he retired to 
"the cave of Hira, near Mecca, where he spent 
the day in prayer, meditation and fasting, and 
came home at night to tell his wife the sights he 
pretended to have seen, and the sounds he pre- 
tended to have heard in this mysterious cave. He 
told her that the angel Gabriel had appeared to 
him, and addressed him as the apostle of God. . . 
Cadijah was charmed with this intelligence. . . . 
His first convert was his wife. The next convert 
was Zeid, his servant. The third was Ali, son of 
his uncle and guardian Abu-Taleb, and, at that 
time a boy. The fourth was Abu-Beker, a man 
of the highest character and of the greatest in- 
fluence in Mecca. By Abu-Beker's persuasion, 
Othman, Abdel-Rahman, Saad, Al-Zobeir, and 
several leading men of Mecca, were induced to 



THE FIFTH TRUMPET^ THE FIRST WOE. 117 

join him. These disciples of his religion became 
the main supporters of his authority, and the 
bravest of his warriors. . . . For three years 
Mohammed continued to teach his doctrines in 
private only, because he was afraid of the oppo- 
sition of the Koreish. During this time, he pro- 
fessed to have received many revelations from 
heaven. At length, he felt so strong in the sup- 
port of Abu-Beker, and in the number of his 
followers that he resolved to declare to his rela- 
tions that God had commanded him to make 
known his mission to them. . . . Mohammed 
now began to preach to the people in public. 7 ' — 
Life of Mohammed, 34-37. 

Dean Prideaux says : "It is to be observed that 
Mahomet began this imposture about the same 
time that the Bishop of Rome, by virtue of a 
grant from the wicked tyrant Phocas, first as- 
sumed the title of Universal Pastor, and thereon 
claimed to himself that supremacy which he hath 
been ever since endeavoring to usurp over the 
Christian Church. Phocas made this grant A. 
D. 606, which was the very same year that Ma- 
homet retired to his cave to forge that imposture 
there."— Diss. Proph., 362. 

"It was in the year 609, when Mahomet was 
already forty years old, that he began to preach 



118 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

his new doctrine at Mecca." — Will-son's Out His- 
tory, 247. 

The dates given in these two quotations, which 
correspond with those given by most other au- 
thors, for the retirement of Mohammed to his cave, 
and his commencing to preach his doctrines in 
Mecca, are very important, and we shall have 
occasion to refer to them again in this and subse- 
quent chapters. 

Other important events connected with the 
rise of Islamism occurred in the year 622, up to 
which time Mohammed had been oppressed and 
ridiculed by his countrymen. "And at the end 
of thirteen years he was obliged to flee from 
Mecca to save his life (A. D. 622). This celebrated 
flight, called the Hegira, is the grand era of the 
Mohammedan religion. Repairing to Yatreb, . . 
he was there received by a large band of converts 
with every demonstration of joy ; and soon the 
whole city acknowledged him as its leader and 
prophet. Mahomet now declared that the empire 
of his religion was to be established by the sword." 
— Will Out Hist, 247. 

As Mohammed's followers increased in num- 
bers, he led them in the conquest of larger and 
more powerful tribes and nations ; 

In A. D. 627 he subdued the Jews of Arabia. 



THE FIFTH TRUMPET — THE FIRST WOE. 119 

In A. D. 629 Mecca submitted to his authority, 
and professed Islamism, when "the 360 idols of 
the Caaba were ignominiously broken, and the 
house of Grod purified and adorned." 

In A. D. 632 occurred the conquest of Arabia, 
and the death of Mohammed, at which time a 
hundred and fourteen thousand men marched 
under his banners. He was succeeded by Abu- 
Beker, who in this year commenced the conquest 
of Syria and Palestine. 

In A. D. 634 Abu-Beker died, on the very day 
in which Damascus was taken by his armies, and 
he was succeeded by Omar. 

In A. D. 636 occurred the memorable battles of 
Yermouk and Cadesiah, by which the armies of 
the Romans and Persians were overthrown, and 
the entire East became an easy prey to the vic- 
torious Moslems. "The fall of Emessa, and Baal- 
bec or Heliopolissoon followed that of Damascus. 
Heraclius, the Byzantine emperor, made one 
great effort to save Syria, but on the banks of the 
Yermouk his best generals were defeated by 
Khaled with a loss of seventy thousand soldiers, 
who were left dead on the field (Nov. A. D. 636). 
Jerusalem, after a siege of four months, capitu- 
lated to Omar, who caused the ground on which 
had stood the temple of Solomon to be cleared of 



120 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

its rubbish, and prepared for the foundation of 
a mosque, which still bears the name of the 
Caliph. ... In the meantime the conquest 
of Persia had been followed up by other Saracen 
generals. In the same year that witnessed the 
battle of Yermouk, the Persians and Saracens 
fought on the plains of Cadesiah one of the 
bloodiest battles on record. Seven thousand five 
hundred Saracens and one hundred thousand 
Persians are said to have fallen. The fate of 
Persia was determined, although the Persian 
monarch kept together some time longer the 
wreck of his empire, but he was finally slain in 
the year 651, and with him expired the second 
Persian dynasty, that of the Sassanidas." — Wilt. 
Out Hist, 249. 

From A. D. 636 to 639 the entire subjugation 
of Syria and Palestine was effected. 

From A. D. 639 to 641 Egypt was brought under 
the dominion of the Mohammedans. 

From A. D. 647 to 709 the whole of Northern 
Africa submitted to the yoke of the invaders. 

From A. D. 711 to 713 Spain was added to the 
empire of the Arabians. 

From A. D. 668 to 718 the Moslems made several 
attempts on Constantinople, but as "they were 
permitted not to kill" the rulers, possess the capi- 



THE FIFTH TRUMPET — THE FIRST WOE. 121 

tal, or overthrow the empire of apostate Imperial 
Christianity, the plentiful use of Greek fire caused 
them to abandon their attempts to invade Europe 
from the East, and to undertake the task by the 
way of the Pyrenees. 

In A. D. 721 the Saracens invaded France, and 
would soon have enveloped the whole of Christen- 
dom, had not Heaven decreed that "thus far shaft 
thou come and no farther, and here shall thy 
proud waves be stayed ;" and had not "the stout 
hearts and iron hands" of Charles Martels' Ger- 
mans "stood the shock like a wall of stone, and 
beat down the light armed Arabs with terrific 
slaughter" on the plains of Poictiers in A. D. 732. 

These were the locusts that came out of the 
smoke and darkness, or the ignorance, vice, su- 
perstition and idolatory, resulting from the cor- 
ruption of Christianity. And that Mohammed 
and his successors were rightly called "Abaddon" 
and "Apollyon," the Destroyer or Desolator; and 
Islamism, "the abomination that maketh deso- 
late" (Dan. xii. 11), will appear from the follow- 
ing : "In ten years of the administration of Omar 
the Saracens reduced to his obedience thirty-six 
thousand cities or castles, destroyed four thous- 
and churches and temples of the unbelievers, 
and erected fourteen hundred mosques for the 



122 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

exercise of the religion of Mohammed. And so 
Mr. Mede well observes : 'No nation had ever so 
wide a command, nor ever were so many king- 
doms, so many regions subjugated in so short a 
space of time. It sounds incredible, yet most 
true it is, that in the space of about eighty years 
they subdued and acquired to the diabolical 
kingdom of Mahomet, Palestine, Syria, both Ar- 
menian, almost all of Asia Minor, Persia, India, 
Egypt, Numidia, all Barbary, even to the river 
Niger, Portugal, Spain. Neither did their for- 
tune or ambition stop here, till they had added 
also a great part of Italy as far as the gates of 
Rome ; moreover, Sicily, Candia, Cyprus and 
the other islands of the Mediterranean Sea.' " — 
Diss. Proph., 545. 

"And they were commanded not to hurt the 
grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any 
tree, but the men who have not the seal of God 
in their foreheads." Rev. ix. 14. This, doubtless, 
alludes to the command given by Abu-Beker to 
his generals on their first invasion of Syria in A. 
D. 632 or 633. "When you fight the battles of the 
Lord acquit yourselves like men without turning 
your backs ; but let not your victory be stained 
with the blood of women and children. Destroy 
no palm trees, nor burn any fields of corn. Cut 



THE FIFTH TKUMPET — THE FIRST WOE 123 

down no fruit trees, nor do any mischief to cattle, 
only such as you kill to eat. . . . As you go 
on, you will find some religious persons who live 
retired in monastries, and propose to themselves 
to serve God that way ; but let them alone, and 
neither kill them nor destroy their monastries ; 
and you will find another sort of people that be- 
long to the synagogue of Satan, who have shaven 
crowns ; be sure to cleave their skulls, and give 
them no quarter till they either turn Mohammed- 
ans or pay tribute." 

" And they were not permitted to kill them, but 
to torment them five months. . . . And they 
had over them a king, the angel of the abyss; his 
name, in Hebrew, is Abaddon, and, in Greek, he 
has the name of Apollyon." Verses 5, 11. 

The Saracens were not permitted to kill the 
faithful servants of God, nor to destroy the Roman, 
or Byzantine empire, but to torment and punish 
for their corrupt and idolatrous practices, the 
apostate Christians, who had not the seal of God, 
but the seal of Anti-Christ, in their foreheads. 
The avowed purpose of Mohammed and his suc- 
cessors was to punish men for their idolatry; 
and the chastisement inflicted by the Saracens 
was the most severe where the worship of saints, 
images, pictures and relics most prevailed. 



124 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

In fixing the time during which the Saracens 
were to hurt and torment men as stated in the 
fifth and tenth verses, we must notice that the 
eleventh verse states that they had over them a 
(one) king, the angel of the abyss (cave or cavern). 
This alludes to Mohammed, who devised his reli- 
gion and plans in the cave of Mount Hira ; but 
as Mohammed died before the five months of 
years (5 x 30 = 150 years) expired, it applies also 
to his successors as long as one Caliph only ruled. 
"When the Ommiyade line of caliphs was over- 
thrown by the Abbassides, Abderrahman, who 
had escaped the massacre of his family, was in- 
vited into Spain, and in A. D. 756 established an 
Ommiyade dynasty at Cordova,'" — Am. Cyc, 
"Spain." 

This event was just 150 years after Mo- 
hammed first entered his cave in A. D. 606, but 
these 150 lunar years must be reduced to solar 
time by deducting 3 therefrom, leaving 147 his- 
torical years, which, begun in 609, when Moham- 
med left his cave, commenced to preach in public, 
to have followers, and to be the leader, or king, 
of the locusts, will reach to the very year A. D. 
756, when Spain revolted "and set up another 
caliph in opposition to Abbas, then reigning." 
And, according to Gibbon : "This revolution 



THE FIFTH TKUMPET — THE FIRST WOE. 125 

tended to destroy the power and unity of the 
empire of the Saracens. . . . Instead of open- 
ing a door to the conquest of Europe, Spain was 
dissevered from the trunk of the monarchy, en- 
gaged in perpetual hostility with the East, and 
inclined to peace and friendship with the Chris- 
tian sovereigns of Constantinople and France." — 
Stu. Gibbon, 483. 

Internal dissensions now arrested the sweeping 
tide of Saracen invasion, their thirst for conquest 
abated, and in A. D. 762 the caliph Al-Mansour 
began to build Bagdad for his residence, which 
he called Medinat el Salem— City of Peace. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE SIXTH TRUMPET — THE SECOND WOE. 



A. D. 1076-1555. 



41 And the sixth angel sounded ; and I heard a voice from the 
four horns of the golden altar that is before God, saying to the 
sixth angel, who had the trumpet : Loose the four angels that 
are hound at the great river Euphrates. And the four angels 
were loosed, who were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a 
month, and a year, to slay the third part of men." Kev. ix. 13- 
16. 

The idolatrous Christians, after having been 
tormented by the Arabian locusts, were left for 
a while that they might consider their wicked 
ways, repent of their sins, and reform their con- 
duct; but they "repented not of the works of their 
hands, that they might not worship demons, and 
idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of 
stone, and of wood, which can neither see, nor 
hear, nor walk ; and they repented not of their 
murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their lewd- 
ness, nor of their thefts." Rev. ix. 20, 21. There- 
fore the Euphratean horsemen, or the Seljukian 
Turks, are brought upon the scene to accomplish 



THE SIXTH TEUMPET — THE SECOND WOE. 127 

that which the Saracens were not "permitted" to 
do— "to slay" the ruling dynasty, capture the 
seat of government, and annihilate the power of 
"the third part of men" (the eastern or Greek di- 
vision of the Eoman empire), and to further tor- 
ment the worshipers of the dragon and beast. 

The four angels that were to be loosed were 
the four sultanies, or dynasties, of the Turkish 
empire — that of Persia, Kerman, Syria and Roum, 
which were bound, or retained, in the vicinity of 
"the great river Euphrates," for 177 years (A. D. 
1095-1272) by the eight different crusades that 
were organized in Europe to rescue Jerusalem 
and other sacred places in Palestine from the 
possession of the Mohammedans. 

"Since the first conquest of the caliphs, the es- 
tablishment of the Turks in Anatolia or Asia 
Minor was the most deplorable loss which the 
church and empire sustained. By the propaga- 
tion of the Moslem faith, Soliman deserved the 
name of Gazi, a holy champion; and his new 
kingdom of the Romans, or of Bourn, was added 
to the tables of Oriental geography. It is de- 
scribed as extending from the Euphrates to Con- 
stantinople, from the Black Sea to the confines of 
Syria. By the choice of the Sultan, Mce, the 
metropolis of Bithynia, was preferred for his 



128 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

palace and fortress ; the seat of the Seljukian 
dynasty of Koum was planted 100 miles from 
Constantinople ; and the divinity of Christ was 
denied and derided in the same temple in which 
it had been pronounced by the first general syn- 
od of the Catholics. . . But the most inter- 
esting conquest of the Seljukian Turks was that 
of Jerusalem, which soon became the theatre of 
nations. In their capitulation with Omar, the 
inhabitants had stipulated the assurance of their 
religion and property, but the articles were in- 
terpreted by a master against whom it was 
dangerous to dispute ; and in the 400 years of the 
reign of the caliphs the political climate of Jeru- 
salem was exposed to the vicissitudes of storm 

and sunshine After the defeat of the 

Romans the tranquility of the Fatimate caliphs 
was invaded by the Turks. They were repulsed 
from Egypt, but they conquered Syria and the 
Holy Land. The house of Seljnk reigned about 
20 years in Jerusalem (A. D. 1076-1096); but the 
hereditary command of the holy city and terri- 
tory was intrusted or abandoned to the Emir, 
Ortok, the chief of a tribe of Turkmans. 

The Oriental Christians and the Latin pilgrims 
deplored a revolution, which, instead of the reg- 
ular government and old alliance of the caliphs, 



THE SIXTH TKUMPET — THE SECOND WOE. 129 

imposed on their necks the iron yoke of the 
strangers of the North. A spirit of native bar- 
barism, or recent zeal, prompted the Turkmans 
to insult the clergy of every sect ; the patriarch 
was dragged by the hair along the pavement and 
cast into a dungeon, to extort a ransom from the 
sympathy of his flock ; and the divine worship in 
the Church of the Resurrection was often dis- 
turbed by the savage rudeness of its masters. The 
pathetic tale excited the millions of the West to 
march under the standard of the cross to the 
relief of the Holy Land."— Stu.- Gibbon, 541-543. 

The eight crusades that followed, and which 
cost Europe two millions of men, and countless 
treasure, so engaged the attention of the Turks 
that they were unable to proceed with the over- 
throw of the Byzantine empire, which they had 
undertaken; but after the crusaders retired they 
resumed the task that Providence permitted, if 
not designed them to accomplish. 

In A. D. 1339 they took Mcsea and Mcomedia, 
and soon made a permanent acquisition of terri- 
tory in Europe. In A. D. 1357 they took Grallipo- 
li ; in A. D. 1361 Adrianople, and in A. D. 1444 
nearly the whole of the empire was in their pos- 
session, except the capital. 

"The Turks appeared before the walls of Con- 



130 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

stantinople April 6, A. D. 1453, with an army of 
400,000. They were not able to break the chain 
which protected the entrance of the harbor, but 
Sultan Mohammed II. had his fleet carried on 
rollers 10 miles overland, and launched into the 
inner gulf. Both sides fought bravely, but after 
a siege of 53 days Constantinople fell, May 29, A. 
D. 1453. Constantine died heroically in the 
breach. The city was delivered over to rapine, 
and the mass of the inhabitants sold into slavery. 
The brothers of Constantine, Demetrius and 
Thomas, held out for a short season in Morea. 
This, with the rest of the Latin principalities, 
which had acknowledged a loose feudal subjec- 
tion to the Byzantine emperor had fallen by A. 
D. 1460. David, the last of the Comneni, and the 
last emperor of Trebizond, submitted in A. D. 1461. 
Thus perished an empire which had kept the 
light of letters and civilization burning through 
all the night of the dark ages, when Western 
Europe, including even Italy, lay prostrate at the 
feet of barbarian conquerors, with whom the will 
of the strongest was the sole law." — Am. Cyc, 
"Byzantine Empire." 

"In the progress of his Anatolian conquests, 
Mahomet invested with a fleet and army the cap- 
ital of David, who presumed to style himself em- 



THE SIXTH TRUMPET 1 — THE SECOND WOE. 131 

peror of Trebizond ; the feeble Comnenns surren- 
dered the city (A. D. 1461), and was transported 
with his family to a castle in Romania ; but on a 
slight suspicion of corresponding with the Persian 
king, David, and the whole Comnenian race 
were sacrificed to the jealousy or avarice of the 
conqueror."— Stu. Gibbon, 629. 

Seeing that the Turks have accomplished their 
mission — have captured the capital, destroyed 
the empire, and killed the reigning dynasty of 
"the third part," or the Greek division of the Ro- 
man world, let us now endeavor to find to what 
period the prophetic number, "an hour, and a 
day, and a month, and a year," applies. A pro- 
phetic year is 360 years, a month 30 years, a day one 
year, and an hour about 15 days. These together 
make 391 years and a fraction ; and the 391 years, 
properly "shortened," make 385 solar years. 

Now the Seljukian Turks, as we have seen 
above, conquered Syria and Palestine, and estab- 
lished their dominion in Jerusalem in A. D. 1076 ; 
and if from this date we measure with our 385 
years we come exactly to A. D. 1461. In the former 
year the Turks "were prepared," and in the latter 
they finished their task, but from A. D. 1095 to 1272 
they were "bound at the great river Euphrates" 
by the Crusades. 



132 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

Christianity, as instituted by the Apostles of 
our Lord, soon became corrupted by Greek phil- 
osophy and pagan idolatry and superstition. In 
the third century image worship existed, in the 
fourth century it became general ; Constantine 
favored and extended it. Reports of miraculous 
effects produced by some images attracted crowds 
of pilgrims. In the fifth century it became in- 
terwoven with the whole domestic and public 
life of the Greek and Asiatic Christians. In the 
course of the sixth century it became a custom in 
the Greek churches to make prostrations before 
images as a token of veneration to the persons 
whom they represented. And although some em- 
perors, kings and bishops protested against these 
practices, and the Jews denounced them as 
idolatry and apostacy from the divine law, yet 
they universally prevailed, and the Church be- 
came more pagan than Christian. 

It was to chastise these worshipers of saints and 
images that the monotheist Saracens and Turks 
inflicted the first and second woes. Eat, as we 
learn from the 20th and 21st verses, the terrible 
punishment and destruction visited upon the 
African, the Asian and the Greek Christians did 
not reform the Roman Church, for "the rest of 
the men that were not killed by these plagues 



THE SIXTH TRUMPET — THE SECOND WOE. 133 

repented not of the works of their hands, that 
they might not worship demons, and idols of 
gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and 
of wood, which neither can see, nor hear, nor 
walk ; and they repented not of their murders, 
nor of their sorceries, nor of their lewdness, nor 
of their thefts." 

And hence in A. D. 1469 Sultan Mohammed II. is- 
sued this proclamation : "I, Mohammed, the son of 
Amurath . . . . emperor of emperors, and 
prince of princes, from the rising to the setting 
sun, promise to the only God, Creator of all things, 
by my vow, and by my oath, that I will not seek 
out what is pleasant, that I will not touch what 
is beautiful, nor turn my face from the west to 
the east, till I overthrow and trample under the 
feet of my horses the gods of the nations, those 
gods of wood, of brass, of silver, of gold, or of 
painting, which the disciples of Christ have made 
with their hands." — Sismondi. 

Accordingly Mohammed II. and his successors 
continued to harass and restrain the idolatrous 
dragonic and papal powers of Europe until the 
middle of the sixteenth century, when the Refor- 
mation had so far progressed that the Witnesses 
(Rev. xi. 11, 12.) were able to stand "upon their 
feet ; and great fear fell upon those who saw 



134 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

them. And they heard a great voice from heav- 
en, saying to them ■ Come up hither. And they 
went up into heaven in a cloud, and their enemies 
beheld them." This, as will be shown further on, 
refers to the important events of the year 1555, 
when the period of the sixth trumpet and second 
woe ended, and the third, or Protestant woe, con- 
sisting of the seven last plagues of the wrath of 
God, began to be poured out upon the dragon 
and beast to complete the destruction of these 
monsters, which had been commenced by the 
Saracens, and continued by the Tmks. 



CHAPTER XL 

THE TWO WITNESSES. 



313—1555. 



4 'And a reed like a rod was given to me ; and it was said : 
Rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and those 
who worship in it. But the court that is without the temple 
leave out, and measure it not : for it is given to the Gentiles, 
and the holy city they shall tread under foot forty-two months. 
And I will give to my two witnesses, that they may prophesy 
a thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. 
These are the two olive trees, and the two lamps that stand 
before the Lord of the earth. . . . And when they shall have 
finished their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the abyss 
will make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them. 
. . . And after the three days and a half, the spirit of life 
from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet ; 
and great fear fell upon those who saw them," etc. R?v. xi. 1-13. 

"And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a 
place prepared by God, that they should feed her there for a 
thousand two hundred and sixty days." Rev. xii. 6. 

Ill the last two chapters we noticed the state 
and affliction of the outward, temporal, domi- 
nant, but corrupt Church. In this we must con- 
sider the condition of the inward, spiritual, sup- 
pressed, hut pure Church of Christ, as indicated 
by the above Scripture. 



136 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

1. The "reed like a rod" signifies the rigid laws 
of God, especially those of the New Testament, 
as the true rule of faith and practice. 

2. "The temple of God, and the altar, and those 
who worship in it," alludes to Imperial and Papal 
Christianity, the character of their devotion and 
sacrifices, and the moral life and conduct of their 
adherents ; and the command is to measure and 
test all these by the word of God ; and this was 
to be done by Erasmus, Zuingli, Luther, and other 
Protestant reformers. 

3. The court that is without the temple, which 
is to be left out, and not measured at this time, 
is Mohammedanism, whose dominions almost en- 
circled Christendom. "The Gentiles" are the 
Mohammedans, who were to tread "the holy 
city," Jerusalem, under foot "forty-two months" 
of years, as will be shown under the sixth plague. 

4. The "two Witnesses," "the two olive trees, 
and the two lamps" signify the Law and the 
Gospel, the Jewish and Gentile Churches, or the 
broken off "good olive," and the ingrafted "wild 
olive" (Rom. xi. 16-25) ; and those European and 
Asiatic Christians who retained "the testimony 
of Jesus," the Holy Scriptures, and lived and 
worshiped in accordance with "the command- 
ments of God" during the terrible reigns of the 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 137 

dragon and beast. All these were to prophesy, 
witness to the truth, and protest against the 
abominable doctrines and practices of the world- 
ly pompous Church during 1260 years, "clothed 
in sackcloth," or in an humble, obscure, and des- 
pised condition. 

5. "And when they shall have finished their 
testimony" (or, as rendered by others, "When they 
shall be about finishing their testimony," that is, 
during the latter part of the 1260 years), "the beast 
that ascends out of the abyss (the Imperial or 
dragonic beast, Rev. xiii. 7,) will make war with 
them, and kill them." But after lying in a dead 
and unburied state for "three days and a half," 
or three and a half years, they shall stand "upon 
their feet," and begin the infliction of the third 
ivoe— the "seven plagues which are the last," upon 
their terror-stricken enemies. 

6. The retirement of true Christians from the 
worldly corrupt Church, and continuing in a de- 
jected and persecuted condition for 1260 years, is 
also symbolized by the Woman who fled into the 
wilderness. And this figure, taken in connection 
with what is said in preceeding verses respecting 
the "woman clothed with the sun and the moon 
under her feet," enables us to fix the date when 
one at least of the Witnesses began to "prophesy 



138 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

in sackcloth." It was in A. D. 313, when Christi- 
anity was made the fashionable, popular, pomp- 
ous, state religion of the Roman Empire. 

Now let us search in the wilderness for the 
Witnesses, notice their measurement of the tem- 
ple, hear their testimony, and see the beast "make 
war with them, overcome them, and kill them." 
But we will first inquire into the cause of their 
retirement. 

We have seen (chap, v.) that the period of the 
pure, primitive, persecuted Church of Christ rep- 
resented by the "woman clothed with the sun," 
was terminated in A. D. 313, by Constantine's 
Edict of Universal Toleration of Christianity. 
Of this Prof. Schaff says : "In this edict, however, 
we should look in vain for the modern Protestant 
theory of religious liberty, as one of the universal 
and inalienable rights of man. Sundry voices, it 
is true, in the Christian Church itself, at that 
time, and even before, declared firmly against all 
compulsion in religion. But the spirit of the 
Roman Empire was too absolute to abandon the 
prerogative of a supervision of public worship. 
The Constantinian toleration was a temporary 
measure of state policy, which (as indeed the 
edict expressly states the motive) promised the 
greatest security of the public peace, and the 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 139 

protection of all divine and heavenly powers for 
emper^ and empire. It was, as the result teaches, 
but the necessary transition to a new order of 
things. It opened the door to the elevation of 
Christianity, and specifically of the Catholic 
hierarchical Christianity, with its exclusiveness 
towards heretical and schismatical sects, to be 
the religion of the state." — Schaff, vol. 2, p. 30. 

"The public respect which he (Constantine) 
had paid to the old religion (Paganism) up to 
this time (A. D. 324) was even continued after- 
wards. . . . Thus his new capital of Constan- 
tinople was placed under the joint protection of 
the God of the Martyrs and the Goddess Fortune; 
his coins bore on one side the monogram of Christ 
and on the other the image of the Sun-god, with 
the inscription Sol Invictus ; and he retained to 
the last the title of Pontifex Maximus, which 
marked the emperor as the priestly head of the 
pagan hierarchy. . . . He called himself 
Bishop of bishops, and in the year after his vic- 
tory over Licinius he assumed a sort of headship 
of the Church on earth, by convening and pre- 
siding over the first of those councils whose very 
title of (Ecumenical marked the connection of 
the Church with the organization of the Empire." 
—Stu. Eccles. Hist, 237 and 345. 



1-10 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

"The removal of the seat of government (to 
Constantinople in A. D. 330) was followed by an 
entire change in the forms of civil and military 
administration. The military despotism of the 
former emperors now gave place to the despotism 
of the court, surrounded by all the forms and 
ceremonies, pride, pomp, and circumstance of 
Eastern greatness."— Will. Out. Hist., 224. 

"The year which followed the final success of 
Constantine was disgraced by the execution of 
his eldest son ; and it is not disputed that the 
progress of his career was marked by the usual 
excesses of intemperate and worldly ambition. 
Some of his laws were severe even to cruelty, and 
the general propriety of his moral conduct can- 
not with any justice be maintained." — Wadding- 
tori's Oh. Hist., 83. 

"Constantine the Great, the first emperor who 
made Christianity a state religion, made heresy 
a state offence, and repeatedly banished those 
who refused submission to his decisions in doc- 
trinal controversies." — Am. Cyc, "Inquisition." 

"The emperors, who, in the last (the fourth) 
century, had constituted themselves heads of the 
Church, and had suffered themselves to be ad- 
dressed by the impious titles of "your divinity? 
"your eternity" "your godship" "supreme master" 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 141 

and "everlasting king" had still reserved to them- 
selves the supreme ecclesiastical power."— 
Ruler's Church History, 97 

The present purpose is not to disparage the 
first Christian emperor, who physically, mentally 
and morally was a noble man for his age and 
station, but to show from history that Constan- 
tine was the pro to-imperial Antichrist, which, ac- 
cording to 2 Thess. ii., was to be revealed when 
Paganism should u be taken out of the way," and 
that the union of Church and state, of spiritual 
and temporal sovereignty, of Christian ordinances 
and Pagan rites, of the profession of the religion 
of Jesus with courtly and military pomp, splen- 
dor, and extravagance, of the teaching of the 
G-ospel of Christ with a despotic censorship over 
man's consciences, was the beginning of the Anti- 
christianism that succeeded the period of the 
pure, persecuted Church of Christ. And hence, 
when in A. 1 ). 313, the outward Church became 
arrayed in the gorgeous habiliments of worldly 
splendor and Roman despotism, the true spiritual 
Church clothed herself in sackcloth, and flew into 
the wilderness to mourn the degeneracy, and 
prophesy against the abominations that desolate 
the Church of Christ "for a thousand two hun- 
dred and sixty" years. 



142 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBEKS. 

"In the time of Constantine and Sylvester, 
Bishop of Rome, many pious Christians, foresee- 
ing that the Apostacy which was even then com- 
mencing, would speedily overspread the Church, 
retired into the valleys of the Cottian Alps, with 
the intention of maintaining the Gospel in its 
primitive simplicity. In these valleys they 
joined the descendants of those, who, in the 
Neronic persecution, had fled from Italy, and 
sought refuge in the same spot. And thus we 
trace the rise of the Vallensic Church." — Divine 
History of the Church, 94. 

From the time of Constantine, onward, the 
faithful European Witnesses of Jesus found much 
to prophesy against — the corruptions of the 
Church by false doctrines and practices, the op- 
pression, arrogance and pride of potentate, prelate 
and priest, the worship of dead men and women, 
images, relics, and pictures, the shameful rivalry 
and contentions among bishops, especially those 
of Rome and Constantinople, as to "who should 
be greatest," and should be "lords over God's 
heritage," the offer by the murderous emperor 
Phocas, and the acceptance by Pope Boniface 
III. of the coveted title of Supreme and Univer- 
sal Bishop ; the public establishment of idolatry 
by the dedication of the Pantheon "to the worship 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 143 

of the Virgin Mary and all the saints ;" and the 
efforts of the clerical beast, or Papacy, leagued 
with the temporal powers, to exterminate those 
termed heretics, especially during the thirteenth, 
fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries. 

Having found the Latin, or European Witness, 
we will now search for his Greek or Asiatic com- 
panion. 

"The history of the Patjlicians, whose exile 
scattered over the West the seed of reformation, 
demands a few words. ... In the neighbor- 
hood of Samosata, a reformer arose, esteemed by 
the Paulicians as the chosen messenger of truth 
f about A. D. 660). In his humble dwelling of 
Mananalis, Constantine entertained a deacon who 
returned from Syrian captivity, and received the 
inestimable gift of the Kew Testament, which 
was already concealed from the vulgar by the 
clergy. These books became the measure of his 
studies and the rule of his faith ; but he attached 
himself with peculiar devotion to the writings 
and character of St. Paul ; and the name of the 
Paulician is derived from the Apostle of the 
Gentiles. . . . The apostolic labors of Constan- 
tine and of his disciple Sylvanus soon multiplied 
the number of his disciples. . . . They were 
soon exposed to the persecution of the Roman 



144 ' THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

government ; and in a calamitous period of 150 
years, their patience sustained whatever zeal 
could inflict ; and power was insufficient to erad- 
icate the obstinate vegetation of fanaticism and 
reason. The most furious and desperate rebels 
are the sectaries of a religion long persecuted, 
and at length provoked. In an holy cause they 
are no longer susceptible of fear or remorse : the 
justice of their arms hardens them against the 
feelings of humanity; and they avenge their 
fathers' wrongs on the children of their tyrants. 
Such have been the Hussites of Bohemia, and 
the Calvinists of France, and such, in the ninth 
century, were the Paulicians of Armenia and the 
adjacent provinces. . . . About the middle of 
the eighth century, Constantine, surnamed Co- 
pronymus by the worshipers of images, had made 
an expedition into Armenia, and found, in the 
cities of Melitene and Theodosiopolis, a great 
number of Paulicians, his kindred heretics. As 
a favor or punishment, he transplanted them from 
the banks of the Euphrates to Constantinople 
and Thrace ; and by this emigration their doctrine 
was introduced and diffused in Europe. . . . The 
favor and success of the Paulicians in the eleventh 
and twelfth centuries must be imputed to the 
strong though secret discontent which armed 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 145 

the most pious Christians against the Church of 
Koine. The sectaries found their way into every 
part of Europe, and their opinions were silently 
propagated in Kome, Milan, and the kingdoms 
beyond the Alps. ... It was in the country 
of the Albigeois, in the southern provinces of 
France, that the Paulicians were most deeply im- 
planted ; and the same vicissitudes of martyrdom 
and revenge which had been displayed in the 
neighborhood of the Euphrates, were repeated in 
the thirteenth century on the banks of the Rhone. 
. . . The visible assemblies of the Paulicians, 
or Albigeois, were extirpated by fire and sword ; 
and the bleeding remnant escaped by flight, con- 
cealment, or Catholic conformity. But the in- 
vincible spirit which they had kindled still lived 
and breathed in the Western world. Ii\the state, 
in the Church, and even in the cloister, a latent 
succession was preserved of the disciples of St. 
Paul, who protested against the tyranny of Rome, 
embraced the Bible as the rule of faith, and puri- 
fied their creed from all the visions of the Gnostic 
theology. The struggles of Wickliff in England, 
and of Huss in Bohemia, were premature and in- 
effectual ; but the names of Zuinglius, Luther, 
and Calvin are pronounced with gratitude as the 
deliverers of nations."— Stu. Gibbon, 506-9. 



146 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

We have yet to find the Hebrew Witness. Fred- 
erick the Great said to his chaplain : "Doctor, if 
your religion is a true one, it ought to be capable 
of very brief and simple proof. Will you give 
me an evidence of its truth in one word?" The 
chaplain answered, "Israel." 

The chaplain was right, and in nearly every 
town and city in the world there are to be found 
the children of faithful Abraham bearing incon- 
trovertible testimony to the authenticity of the 
Old Testament, and, indirectly, to the divine 
origin of the New Testament and Christianity. 

By their Babylonian captivity the Jews were 
entirely cured of their inclination to idolatry, 
and whatever may have been their sins and follies 
from the return to the destruction of their state, 
and their^dispersion by Titus and Hadrian, and 
since then, they have not worshiped idols. Dur- 
ing the first three centuries many of "the lost 
sheep of the house of Israel" were gathered into 
the fold of Christ, but when the religion of Jesus 
became amalgamated with Pagan idolatry, the 
Jews were found to be faithful witnesses against 
the abomination, and fewer then were attracted 
to the standard of the Cross. We have space for 
only a brief notice of their condition prior to the 
thirteenth century. 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 147 

"Iii the fourth century they were, by Constan- 
tine, dispersed over all the empire as fugitives 
and vagabonds. They were branded as felons, 
having also their ears cut off, and then banished 
from Rome. In the fifth century they were driven 
out of Alexandria, whither they had fled for 
refuge, and where they found a temporary shelter. 
Throughout all the Persian empire they were 
cruelly persecuted and oppressed. In the sixth 
century they were allured and deceived by false 
Christs, and led into open rebellion against the 
Romans, but were soon defeated with very great 
slaughter. In Africa, whither multitudes had 
fled, in hopes of finding a resting place, they were 
forbidden to exercise their religion, being hunted 
to the caves of the earth. In the seventh century 
they were expelled from Antioch, from Jerusa- 
lem, and also from Spain. In France they were 
compelled either to renounce their religion, or 
be despoiled of all their property. In Arabia 
they were subjugated by Mohammed, who first 
put them under heavy tribute, and then expelled 
them from his kingdom." — FleetivoocP s Life of 
Christ, 668. 

Now, since we have found the Witnesses, and 
seen them retire to the w.xlerness, we must iden- 
tify the beast, delineate his character, and see 



148 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

him engage in his favorite sport— the murder of 
the saints of God. And fortunately, for the iden- 
tification of the fully grown, two-horned monster, 
we have an infallible method. It consists in the 
proper use of the number 666. "Let him that has 
understanding count the number of the beast : 
for it is the number of a man, and his number is 
six hundred and sixty-six." Rev. xiv. 18. In a 
former chapter we gave an explanation of this 
mystical number founded upon "the traditions of 
the elders" but here it is the duty of the miner to 
discover and dig up its hidden meaning. 

The number 666 is a measure of time, and sig- 
nifies 666 lunar years, which will be properly 
"shortened" by deducting 10 therefrom, leaving 
656 solar or historical years. And this period is 
the time from the incipiency of the "eighth head," 
or Papacy in 554, to 1210, when the two-horned 
monster had attained his most gigantic propor- 
tions, "was more stout than his fellows," had two 
horns like a lamb (his name was Innocent), and he 
spoke like a dragon," that is, with all the concen- 
trated tyrannical and despotic authority of 
Augustinian and Constantinian Imperialism. 

During his pontificate (A. D. 1198-1216), by the 
terrors of excommunication, interdict and anath- 
ema, Pope Innocent III. succeeded in reducing 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 149 

every Prince and potentate in Europe, and 
many in Asia, to his authority ; hut, as we shall 
see, A. D. 1210, the time especially designated by 
666, was the most important year. 

"Innocent III. . . . not only usurped the 
despotic government of the Church, but claimed 
the empire of the world, and appeared to indulge 
the lofty project of submitting the kings and 
princes of the earth to an hierarchal sceptre. . . . 
In Asia and Europe he disposed of crowns and 
scepters with the most wanton ambition." — 
Bitter's Ok. Hist., 248. 

For awhile king John of England "dared to 
brave the thunders of the Vatican, then wielded 
by a pontiff who had dragged the crowns of 
France and Germany at the wheels of his trium- 
phal car. The ecclesiastical hierarchy had ever 
been encroaching on the province of the civil 
power. The Papal chair was filled by Innocent 
III. whose proud and enterprising ambition led 
him to convert the superiority which had been 
unfortunately ceded to him by all the European 
princes and potentates into an absolute dominion 
over them. . . . The holy father was not to 
be intimidated. He maintained his authority, 
laid England under a Papal interdict, and from 
that moment all the churches were shut, and the 



150 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

sacred rites of religion forbidden, with the excep- 
tion of baptism, confession, absolution, and ex- 
treme unction. After inflexibly maintaining the 
interdict for two years, Innocent proceeded to 
excommunicate, and, by consequence, to depose 
the king" (about A. D. 1209 or 1210.) After several 
years the wily pontiff succeeded in reducing the 
refractory king to submission and penitence, and 
"on bended knee, and in the presence of his now 
alienated people, the king took the following oath: 
— 'I, John, by the grace of God, king of England 
and lord of Ireland, in order to expiate my sins, 
do, of my own free will, and by the advice of my 
barons, give to the Church of Rome, to Pope 
Innocent, and his successors, the kingdom of 
England, and all other prerogatives of my crown. 
I will hereafter hold them as the Pope's vassal. 
I will be faithful to God, to the Church of Rome, 
to the Pope my master, and to his successors, 
legitimately elected. I promise to pay him a 
tribute of one thousand marks yearly — to wit, 
seven hundred for the kingdom of England, 
and three hundred for the kingdom of Ireland.' r 
—Fergusons History of England, vol. 1, p. 68. 

"Otho IV. afterward ceded to him (Innocent 
III.) the disputed territory of the countess Matil- 
da, but having seized several of the Pope's cities, 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 151 

he was excommunicated in A. D. 1210, and de- 
posed." — Am. Cyc, "Papal States" 

"Of the Decretals of former Popes" "about the 
year 1210, Innocent III. caused a more perfect 
collection to be made, and gave it the seal of 
public authority. This was called the Roman 
Collection." — Waddingtorf s Ch. Hist., 375. 

"It was reserved to Innocent the Third, than 
whom no Pope ever possessed more ambition, 
to institute the Inquisition; and the Waldenses 
were the first objects of its cruelty. He author- 
ized certain monks to frame the process of that 
court, and to deliver the supposed heretics to the 
secular power. The beginning of the thirteenth 
century saw thousands of persons hanged or 
burned by these diabolical devices, whose sole 
crime was that they trusted only in Jesus Christ 
for salvation, and renounced all vain hopes of 
self-righteous idolatry and superstition." — Hist. 
Oh Christ, vol. 3, 353. 

Having identified the beast, we must now no- 
tice the development of his horns, which are the 
Franciscan and Dominican orders of monks, or 
friars ; and in doing this we should bear in mind 
the order in which the Papacy first rose, that we 
may appreciate the importance of 666 as indicating 
the final development of the two-horned beast. 



152 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

1. In A. P. 553 the last king of the Ostrogoths, 
the seventh head, was slain in battle : 553 + 656 = 
1209. 

2. In A. D. 554 the barbarians were entirely 
subdued; JNTarses was established as Exarch at 
Ravenna, and Rome left to the Pope : 554 + 656 
= 1210. 

3. In A. D. 567 Loiiginus succeeded Narses, 
and took away the old magistracies, etc., of Rome, 
and thus increased the Pope's powers : 567 + 656 
= 1223. 

4. In A. D. 573 Albcin, the powerful king of 
the Lombards, died, and was succeeded by weak 
princes, which allowed the Pope to assume greater 
political authority : 573 + 656 = 1229. 

Consequently, we shall find that in the years 
1209, 1210, 1223 and 1229, the Papal beast was com- 
pletely developed, equipped for action, and 
earnestly engaged in his proper work, the killing 
of the witnesses of Jesus. 

"Francis of Assisium, the founder of the Minor 
Friars, was doubtless an extraordinary character. 
He was born at Assisium, in the ecclesiastical 
state, and was disinherited by his father, who 
was disgusted at his enthusiasm. In A. D. 1209, 
he founded his order, which was too successful 
in the world. His practices of devotion were 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 153 

monstrous, and lie seems ever to have been the 
prey of a whimsical imagination. Pride and de- 
ceit are not uncommonly connected with a tem- 
per like his, and he gave a memorable instance 
of both. It is certain that he was impressed with 
five wounds on his body, resembling the wounds 
of Christ crucified. It is certain, also, that he 
pretended to have received the impression as a 
miraculous favor from heaven. To describe the 
particulars of such a story would be unworthy of 
a historian of the Church of Christ, Let it suffice 
to have mentioned in general what is authentic, 
whence the reader may form some notion of the 
truth of St. Paul's prediction concerning the 
man whose coming was to be after the working 
of Satan with lying wonders. The Papacy in- 
deed was full of such figments at this time. 
Francis sought for glory among men by his fol- 
lies and absurdities, and he found the genius of 
the age so adapted to his own that he gained im- 
mense admiration and applause A 

few years before the unrighteous decision of the 
Pope in favor of the Friars, a fanatical book, un-, 
der the title of "Introduction to the Everlasting 
Gospel," (the original "Everlasting Gospel," was 
published in A. D. 1210, and the Introduction in 
A. D. 1250— Waddingtori), was published by a 



154 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

Franciscan, which, by exalting Francis above 
Jesus Christ and arrogating to his order the 
glory of reforming mankind by a new Gospel 
substituted in the room of that of Christ, attempt- 
ed to exalt that mendicant tribe to the height of 
divine estimation in the eyes of mankind." — Hist. 
Ch. Christ, vol. 4, p. 15. 

"Franciscans, Grey Friars, or Minorites, a reli- 
gious order in the Roman Catholic Church, 
founded in A. D. 1209, by St. Francis of Assisi. 
When the number of his disciples had increased 
to ton, he gave them, in A. D. 1210, a rule, in 
which strict poverty and a union of the active 
and contemplative hie are the principal points. 
The order was orally confirmed by Innocent III. 
in A. D. 1210, and again in A. D. 1215, and spread 
with such rapidity that 5,000 brethren were as- 
sembled at the general chapter in A. D. 1219. In 
A. D. 1223 Honorius III., by a bull, confirmed the 
order as the first among the mendicant orders, gave 
them the right of collecting alms, confirmed to 
the church of Portuincula, the celebrated indul- 
gence, which was afterwards extended to all the 
churches of the Franciscans, and granted them 
several other privileges." — Am. Cyc, "Francis- 
cans." 

The Dominicans were founded by Dominic, a 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 155 

Spaniard, about the time that the Franciscans 
were instituted by Francis. While the Francis- 
cans were confirmed by Innocent III. in A. D. 
1210, the Dominicans had been encouraged by 
the same Pope, and "on December 22, A. D. 1216, 
two separate bulls of Honorius III. approved and 
confirmed the new society ; and a third, issued in 
the following January, is addressed to them as 
'preachers of the county of Toulouse,' and 'preach- 
ers' has been their official title ever since." "In 
A. D. 1233 they were appointed, conjointly with 
the Franciscans, to carry out the new rules of the 
inquisition in France. ... In the fifteenth 
century the Dominicans were chosen to preside 
over the Spanish inquisition, when that tribunal 
became a state establishment." — Am. Cyc. "Dom- 
inic" and "Dominicans." 

To these horns of the beast were mainly com- 
mitted the extirpation of what the Papists were 
pleased to call heresy ; the sale of the indulgences 
or licences to commit sin; and the control of 
Purgatory, which Gregory and others had in- 
vented, in which to retain departed souls until 
their friends should pay the demanded fee for 
their release. And by their successful manage- 
ment of these, the principal departments of his 
government, the authority of the Antichrist was 



156 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

extended and perpetuated, and his coffers well 
supplied with gold. 

"Another crusade was preached, and in A. D. 
1228 a system of Inquisition was permanently es- 
tablished within the walls of Toulouse. In the 
same, or the following year, (A. D. 1229) a council 
there assembled published decrees, which obli- 
ged laymen, even of the highest rank, to close 
their houses, cellars and forests against the her- 
etical fugitives, and to take all means to detect 
and bring them to trial. . . . And this code 
of bigotry was properly completed by a strict 
prohibition to all laymen to possess any copies of 
the Scriptures. . . By a council held at 

Toulouse in A. D. 1229, a canon was published 
which united one priest and three laymen in a 
sort of council of inquisition. It is this regula- 
tion which is reasonably considered as the foun- 
dation of the Court of Inquisition." — Wad. Ch. 
Hist, 293, 358. 

"In the year A. D. 1229, a council was held at 
Toulouse, one of the canons of which was, that 
the laity should not be allowed to have the Old 
and New Testament in the vulgar tongue, except 
a psalter or the like ; and it forbade men even to 
translate the Scriptures. This is the first instance 
in the Popedom of a direct prohibition of the 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 157 

books of Scripture to the laity. Indirectly the 
same thing had long been practiced." — Hist. Ch. 
Christ, 3, 360. 

The horns of the Papacy, the Franciscans and 
Dominicans, soon intruded themselves into the 
religious, political and educational affairs of 
every country : "The Friars not only intruded 
them salves into the diocesses and churches of the 
bishops and clergy ; and by the sale of indul- 
gences, and a variety of scandalous exactions, per- 
verted whatever of good order and discipline re- 
mained in the church, but also began to domineer 
over the seminaries of learning. And in all this, 
as the Pope was the principal leader, a despotism 
of the worst nature was growing stronger and 
stronger in Christendom. The doctors of the 
University of Paris now loudly joined in the cry 
of the secular clergy against the invasions of the 
mendicants ; and indeed the Papal power at this 
time ruled with absolute dominion. No pastor 
of a church could maintain any due authority 
over the laity, if a Franciscan or Dominican ap- 
peared in his parish to sell indulgences, and to 
receive confessions ; and the learned men at that 
time in Europe were now subject to the" govern- 
ment of these agents of the Popedom. The mag- 
istrates of Paris, at first, were disposed to protect 



158 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

the university, but the terror of the Papal edicts 
reduced them at length to silence ; and not only 
the Dominicans, but also the Franciscans, as- 
sumed whatever power they pleased in that fa- 
mous seminary, and knew no other restriction,ex- 
cept what the Roman tyrant imposed upon them." 
—Hist. Oh. Christ, vol. 4, 14. 

"And of the ten horns that were in his head 
(the ten monarchies of Europe), and of the other 
which came up (the Papacy), and before whom 
three fell (the Heruli, Vandals and the Ostro- 
goths) ; even of that horn that had eyes (a bishop 
or overseer of the church), and a mouth that 
spoke very great things (the blasphemous preten- 
sions of the Popes), whose look was more stout 
than his fellows (the monarchs of Europe), I be- 
held, and the same horn made war with the 
saints, and prevailed against them ; until the an- 
cient of days came, and judgment was given to 
the saints of the Most High ; and the time came 
that the saints possessed the kingdom. . . . 
And he shall speak great words against the Most 
High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most 
High, and think to change times and laws : and 
they (the saints) shall be given into his hand un- 
til (or during) a time and times and the dividing 
(or half) of time." Dan. vii. 20-25. 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 159 

"The beast that ascends out of the abyss will 
make war with them, and overcome them, and 
kill them." Rev. xi. 7. 

"And it was given him to make war with the 
saints, and to overcome them." Rev. xiii. 7. 

The above Scripture alludes to the war made 
with the Witnesses which will occupy our atten- 
tion through the rest of this chapter. It may be 
remarked that Daniel refers to the war with the 
saints as being made by the " little horn," or the 
Papacy, that rose up among the ten horns and 
became "more stout" or powerful than the secu- 
lar members of the Roman family ; while John, 
both here and in Rev. xvii. 12, 13, speaks of the 
war as being waged by the two-horned, dragonic 
beast. This is explained by the fact that Inno- 
cent and his successors did not kill the saints, or 
Witnesses, but still were the authors of their de- 
struction, as they authorized, urged and com- 
pelled the civil rulers to perform the dreadful 
work. 

The length of the period during which the 
clerical and secular beasts should "make war 
with," "and prevail against" the saints, is stated 
by Daniel as "a time (one century) times (two 
centuries) and the dividing of time" (a half cen- 
tury) ; making 350 lunar, or 315 solar years ; and 



160 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

commenced in A. D. 1210, at the end of the peri- 
od indicated by 665, and when the war begun, it 
terminated in A. D. 1555, when the Witnesses 
"stood upon their feet" and ascended to heav- 
en, as will be fully shown at the end of this 
chapter. 

We will first see the two beasts make war with 
the Israelites, who, owing to their wonderful de- 
votion to the "God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob," 
their adherence to the law of Moses, and their 
utter detestation of Roman idolatry and super- 
stition, were looked upon and treated as the most 
incorrigible heretics. 

King John of England had been a friend and 
protector of the Israelites. "The very next year 
(A. D. 1210), however, he passed to the extreme 
of cruelty against the miserable Jews. Every 
Israelite, without distinction of age or sex, was 
imprisoned, their wealth confiscated to the ex- 
chequer, and the most cruel torments extorted 
from the reluctant the confession of their secret 
treasures. . . . Their treasures in London were 
seized, and their houses demolished to repair the 
walls, by these stern assertors of the liberties of 
the land. . . . They were commanded to wear 
a distinctive mark on their dress, two stripes of 
white cloth or parchment. . . . The Church 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 161 

pursued them with implacable enmity. The 
Archbishop of Canterbury (Stephen Lang ton) 
and the Bishop of Lincoln (Hugh of Wells) even 
forbade Christians, on pain of ecclesiastical cen- 
sure, from selling to them the necessaries of life, 
and severe enactments were directed against 
them, . . The remainder of the reign of 
Henry III. was marked with severe oppression of 
the Jews. The Baron's wars increased their bur- 
dens. . . . The Jews were terribly persecuted — 
massacre and plunder being visited upon them 
in the principal cities in these wars. . . . The 
accession of Edward I. brought no relief to the 
Israelites. Heavy exactions were made upon 
them by the king, and the penalty of non-pay- 
ment, even of arrears, was exile, not imprison- 
ment. ... In London alone, 280 were execu- 
ted, after a full trial ; and many more in the 
other parts of the kingdom. . . . The clergy, 
urged on by the Pope, Honorius IV., pushed the 
poor wretches to the wall. They pulled down 
their synagogues, and otherwise oppressed them. 
Finally the king issued an edict expelling the 
whole race from England. Their whole property 
was seized at once, and just money enough left 
them to discharge their expenses to foreign lands, 
perhaps equally inhospitable. 



162 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

The Jews of Spain were of a far nobler rank 
than those of England, of Germany, and even of 
France. . . . The darkness gathered more 
slowly upon them in this kingdom than else- 
where, but it came not the less surely. In the 
great crusade of the Christian Kings of Castile, of 
Aragon, and of Navarre, which won the crown- 
ing victory of Navas de Tolosa (A. D. 1212), the 
wild cry which rang through the cities of France 
and on the Rhine against the Jews, was raised in 
Toledo. . . . After this time the Cortes seized 
every opportunity of invading the privileges of 
the Jews, and increasing their burdens. . . . 
The popular hatred increased, as the Jews were 
regarded as raising the prices of the necessaries 
of life. The clergy were their deadly and irre- 
concilable enemies, and lost no opportunity of 
urging the fanatical populace to violence upon 
them. The monks and the Preaching Friars (the 
Dominicans and Franciscans) were especially 
fatal to them ; their fiery sermons kept the pop- 
ular detestation at a fever heat. There was at 
Seville (A. D. 1388) a fierce popular preacher, 
Ferdinand Martinez, Archdeacon of Ecija. Dur- 
ing the reign of John I. his inflammatory harran- 
gues against the obstinacy and the usury, 
and the wealth of the Jews, had excited the pop- 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 163 

ulace to some excesses. . . . Trie Jewries were 
attacked, forced ; and a general pillage, violation 
and massacre took place of men and women, old 
and young. Fire and sword raged unresisted 
through these quarters of the city. The streets 
of noble Seville ran with blood, and the wild 
voice of the Archdeacon rose over all, and kept 
up the madness. Four thousand Jews perished 
in the massacre. ... In Aragon, fanaticism 
and a thirst for plunder roused the populace. 
. . . The Jews of Navarre suffered no less than 
those of Aragon. . . . This was the state of 
affairs when Ferdinand and Isabella united the 
crowns of Castile and Aragon. . . . The clergy, 
taking advantage of the bigotry of these sover- 
eigns, prevailed upon them to introduce the In- 
quisition into Spain. ... In September A. J). 
1480, two Dominicans, Michael Morrello and de 
St, Martin, were named inquisitors. . . . The 
dreadful w 7 ork began. Victims crowded the 
prisons. . . . In one year 280 were burned in 
Seville alone ; 79 were condemned to perpetual 
imprisonment in loathsome cells ; 17,000 suffered 
lighter punishments. The heart sickens at the 
record of the terrible sufferings inflicted upon 
the Jews by the Inquisition and the "most Cath- 
olic" sovereigns of Spain. . . . The Holy Office 



164 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

spread over Spain. . , . In A. D. 1492 appear- 
ed the fatal edict, commanding all nnbaptized 
Jews to quit the realm in four months. . . . 
The Jews made every effort to avert their fate, 
even offering to replenish the treasury, which 
had been exhausted by the wars of Grenada; but 
in vain. . . . The unhappy race were required 
to choose between baptism and exile. For three 
centuries their fathers had dwelt in this delight- 
ful country, which they had fertilized with their 
industry, enriched with their commerce, and 
adorned with their learning. There were few 
apostates among them. In a lofty spirit of self- 
devotion, the whole race, variously estimated at 
from 166,000 to 800,000, resolved to sacrifice every- 
thing rather than abandon their ancient faith. 
. . . Their sufferings, as they passed out of 
Spain into countries equally inhospitable, were 
dreadful. . . . The Pope commanded the res- 
ident Jews to leave the Roman territory. . . . 
Many passed from Spain into Portugal. . . . 
Many were unable to quit the country (Portugal), 
and lingered in it. All these were made slaves. 
. . . The more steadfast in their faith were 
shipped off as slaves. ... In Lisbon a "monk 
was displaying a crucifix to the eyes of the won- 
dering people, through a narrow aperture in 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 165 

which a light streamed— the light, he declared, 
was the manifest Deity. A converted Jew dis- 
covered a lamp ingeniously concealed behind the 
mysterious crucifix, and exposed the cheat. En- 
raged at this, the multitude, led by the Domin- 
icans, dragged the rash Jew to the market place 
and murdered him. This was followed by a fu- 
rious assault on the houses of the Jewish con- 
verts, the Dominicans, with crucifixes in their 
hands, urging on the maddened mob. Men, wo- 
men and children were involved in a promiscuous 
massacre. ... At the burning of a young 
Jewish woman, Phillip III. had the weakness to 
shudder. The Inquisitor declared that the king 
must atone for this crime by his blood. He was 
bled ; the pale guilty blood burned by the exe- 
cutioner. . . . All these atrocities were com- 
mitted by a tribunal calling itself Christian, and 
professedly in the name of Him who taught only 
mercy and love." 

The above quotations are from "Smith's Secu- 
lar History of the Jews." 

We will close this account of the war made by 
the ten-horned and two-horned monsters with 
Daniel's Hebrew "saints" with a quotation from 
Mr. Keith : "Nor can any tongue of man tell, or 
pen write, what trembling of heart and failing of 



166 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

eyes were theirs, or what sorrow of mind, what 
sore sickness of soul, were the portion of this evil 
family, among the nations whither they were 
driven; in the oppressions and crushings, the 
riflings and banishments, the miseries and the 
massacres, which time after time were relentless- 
ly inflicted upon them, through Spain, Portugal, 
France, Germany, Hungary, Turkey, Italy and 
England." 

We must now return to A. D. 1210, identify the 
other, the Christian Witness, hear his testimony, 
see the beasts kill him, and behold him rise 
from the dead, stand upon his feet, and ascend to 
heaven. 

We have before noticed that about A. D. 313, 
on the corruption of Christianity by Constantine, 
many true Christians (symbolized by the woman 
clothed with the sun), retired to the Alpine soli- 
tudes that they might there preserve primitive 
Christianity to be transmitted in its purity to 
succeeding generations. And we have already 
seen that the Paulicians, who originated in Asia 
about A. D. 660, after for many years keeping the 
commandments of God and holding the testi- 
mony of Jesus in Armenia, and other provinces 
bordering on the Euphrates, were transplanted 
into Europe, and that "it was in the country of 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 167 

the Albigeois, in the southern provinces of France, 
that the Paulicians were most deeply implanted." 
— Gibbon. 

It may be stated that historians have found it 
difficult to trace a distinct existence and succes- 
sion of these two branches of the true Church of 
Christ, as probably they commingled, but in the 
places to which the fathers retired we shall easily 
find and recognize their children. 

"But the true Witnesses, and, as I may say, the 
Protestants of this age, were the Waldenses and 
Albigenses who began to be famous at this time, 
and being dispersed into various places were dis- 
tinguished by various appellations. Their first 
and proper name seemeth to have been Vallenses, 
or 'inhabitants of the valleys ;' and so saith one 
of the oldest writers, Ebrard of Bethune, who 
wrote in the year 1212 ; 'They call themselves Val- 
lenses, because they 'abide in the valley of tears,' 
alluding to their situation in the valleys of Pied- 
mont. They were called 'Albigenses' from Alba, 
a city in the southern parts of France, where also 
great numbers of them were situated. They 
were afterwards denominated Valdenses or 
Waldenses, from Peter Valdo or Waldo, a rich 
citizen of Lyons, and a considerable leader of the 
sect. From Lyons, too, they were called Leon- 



168 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

ists, and Cathari from the professed purity of 
their life and doctrine, as others since have had 
the name of Puritans. . . . Their opinions are 
thus recited from an old manuscript by the Cen- 
turiators of Magdeburgh : 

"In articles of faith the authority of the Holy 
Scripture is the highest, and for that reason it is 
the rule of judging ; so that whatsoever agreeth 
not with the Word of God, is deservedly to be re- 
jected and avoided. 

The decrees of fathers and councils are so far 
to be approved, as they agree with the Word of 
God. 

The reading and knowledge of the Holy Scrip- 
tures is free and necessary to all men, the laity 
as well as the clergy ; yea and the writings of 
the Prophets and Apostles are to be read rather 
than the comments of men. 

The sacraments of the Church of Christ are 
two, Baptism and the Supper of the Lord. 

The receiving in both kinds for the priests and 
people was instituted by Christ. 

Masses are impious ; and it is madness to say 
masses for the dead. 

Purgatory is the invention of man ; for they 
-who believe go into eternal life, they who believe 
not, into eternal damnation. 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 169 

The invocating and worshiping of dead saints 
is idolatry. 

The Church, of Kome is the whore of Babylon. 

We must not obey the Pope and bishops ; be- 
cause they are the wolves of the Church of 
Christ. 

The Pope hath not the primacy over all the 
Churches of Christ, neither hath he the power of 
both swords. 

That is the Church of Christ which heareth 
the sincere word of Christ, and useth the sacra- 
ments instituted by Him, in what place soever it 
exists. 

Vows of celibacy are inventions of men, and 
occasions of sodomy. 

So many orders are so many characters of the 
beast. 

Monkery is a stinking carcass. 

So many superstitious dedications of churches, 
commemorations of the dead, benedictions of 
creatures, pilgrimages ; so many forced fastings, 
so many superfluous festivals, those perpetual 
bellowings, (meaning singing and chanting) of 
unlearned men, and the observations of the other 
ceremonies, manifestly hindering the teaching 
and learning of the Word, are diabolical inven- 
tions. 



170 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

The marriage of the priests is lawful and 
necessary."— Diss. Proph., 579, 580. 

"The professed objects of Peter Waldus and his 
followers were to reduce the lives and manners, 
both of the clergy and people, to that amiable 
simplicity, and that primitive sanctity, which 
characterized the Apostolic age, and which ap- 
pear so strongly recommended in the precepts 
and injunctions of the Divine Author of our re- 
ligion. In consequence of this design, they com- 
plained that the Eomish Church had degenerated 
under Constantine the Great, from its primitive 
purity and sanctity. They considered every 
Christian as in a certain measure qualified and 
authorized to instruct, exhort, and confirm the 
brethren in their Christian course. . . . Their 
rules of practice were extremely austere ; for 
they adopted, as the method of their moral disci- 
pline, the sermon of Christ upon the Mount, 
which they interpreted and explained in the most 
rigorous and literal manner.'" — Ruter's Ch. Hist, 
241. 

The Vaudois. — "Among their own traditions 
there is one, which agrees well with their original 
and favorite tenet, which objects to the possession 
of property by ecclesiastics. It is this— that their 
earliest fathers, offended at the liberality with 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 171 

which Constantine endowed the Church of Rome, 
and the worldliness with which Pope Sylvester 
accepted those endowments, seceded into the Al- 
pine solitudes ; that they there lay concealed and 
secure for so many ages through their insignifi- 
cance and their innocence." — Waddingtori! s Ch. 
Hist, 554. 

Jesus said of His true disciples : u By their fruits 
ye shall know them." U A popish inquisitor says, 
'Heretics are known by their manners. In be- 
havior they are composed and modest, and no 
pride appears in their apparel.' Seysillius says, 
'It much strengthens the Waldenses, that, their 
heresy excepted, they generally live a purer life 
than other Christians. They never swear but by 
compulsion, and seldom take the name of God in 
vain ; they fulfil their promises with good faith ; 
and, living for the most part in poverty, they pro- 
fess that they at once preserve the apostolic life 
and doctrine.' Lielenstenius, a Dominican, speak- 
ing of the Waldenses of Bohemia, says, 'I say that 
in morals and life they are good ; true in words, 
and unanimous in brotherly love.' . . . The 
Bohemian inquisitor already mentioned says, 
'These heretics are known by their manners and 
words ; for they are orderly and modest in their 
manners and behavior, they avoid all pride in 



172 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

their habits. To avoid lies, they do not follow 
trade, but live by the labor of their own hands 
as handicraft men and day laborers. They do 
not heap up riches, but are content with neces- 
saries. They are also very chaste. They are 
sparing and temperate in eating and drinking ; 
they do not frequent taverns and ale houses, 
neither do they go to balls and other vanities. 
They abstain from anger. Their women are very 
modest, avoiding backbiting, foolish jesting, and 
levity of words ; and especially they abstain from 
lies and swearing, not so much as making use of 
the common asseverations, 'in truth,' 'for cer- 
tain,' and the like, because they look upon them 
to be as oaths. They kneel down upon the ground 
before a bench or such like, and pray in silence 
as long as it might take to repeat the Paternoster 
thirty or forty times, concluding their prayers 
by repeating the word 'Amen' several times. This 
they do every day very reverently, amongst those 
of their own persuasion, before noon, afternoon, 
and at night when they go to bed ; and in the 
morning when they rise out of bed, besides some 
other times in the day.' . . . Another treatise 
respecting the Waldenses, probably written by 
Reinerius, bears strong testimony to their scrip- 
tural method of teaching; he says, 'They instruct 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 173 

even little girls in the Gospels and Epistles, that 
they may be brought to embrace their doctrines 
even from their childhood ; and those who have 
been tlxus taught endeavor, with their utmost 
ability, to teach others whenever they find any 
who are inclined to listen to them. . . . The 
heretic begins to teach them many things con- 
cerning humility and chastity, and other virtues, 
and to avoid vices, also to make known to them 
the words of Christ and the Apostles, and other 
saints, so that they seem rather to hear an angel 
from heaven than a man.' Such is the testimony 
of an adversary r—Hist. Ch. Christ, vol. 3, p. 327, 
382, 387. 

These were the loyal subjects of Him "whose 
kingdom is not of this world," the sheep of the 
Good Shepherd, that the Papal wolves would 
destroy. 

As a mate for the above picture of the hetero- 
doxy of the Waldenses, we must now paint one 
of the orthodoxy of the time indicated by 666-1209 
-1229. During this period : 

1. Innocent claimed dominion over all the 
monarchs of the earth : he deposed the emperor 
Otho, and several kings. 

2. Innocent called himself the "Spouse of the 
Ohurch.^ 



174 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

3. The Inquisition was instituted to destroy 
the Waldenses. 

4. The doctrine of Transubstantiation was es- 
tablished. 

5. Auricular Confession was established. 

6. Celibacy was imposed upon the clergy. 

7. The Franciscans originated, and were adopt- 
ed by the Papacy as its first horn. 

8. The Dominicans originated, and were 
adopted by the Papacy as its second horn. 

9. Dominic instituted the Rosary and mechan- 
ical devotions. 

10. The Laity were forbidden to have, read, 
or translate the Scriptures. 

11. The Roman Collection of the Decretals of 
the Popes was made, and occupied the place of 
the decrees of Jehovah. 

12. The Testament of Francis was placed in 
the room of the " Testimony of Jesus." 

13. The "Everlasting Gospel" of the Francis- 
cans, originated, and was adopted in place of u the 
Glorious Gospel of the blessed God." 

14. The destruction of the Jews commenced. 

15. 300,000 Papal crusaders murdered 200,000 
Waldensian Christians in a few months. 

This is the paragraph of the Natural History 
of the two-homed beast that <56<d was designed to 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 175 

direct the attention of thinking men to in the 
present age. 

But as we have seen that the pious sensibilities 
of the good archbishop of Canterbury (Stephen 
Langton) were so outraged by the presence of the 
heretical Jews, it is to be hoped that the sheep of 
his pasture were fed upon a superior article of 
Catholicism in his fold at Canterbury ; so we will 
bring forward a sample of this to offer in com- 
parison with the heretical faith and worship of 
the despised Waldenses : 

"The superstition of this period is almost in- 
credible. In the Cathedral at Canterbury there 
were three altars : one to Christ, another to the 
Virgin Mary, and a third to St.ThomasaBecket. 
And there were offered, in one year, by the mul- 
titude of pilgrims who came thither— to Christ, 
nothing; to the Virgin £4, Is., 8d.; and to St. 
Thomas £954, 6s., 3d. ! The crucifix took the 
place of the cross, the altar was magnified above 
the pulpit, and the priest dared to occupy the 
room of the Savior. The people were influences! 
rather by ghostly authority than by the genius 
of a free and uplifting Christianity." — Furguson's 
History of Enaland, vol. 1, p. 56. 

"The unity of the Church was not protected by 
the authorized use of the sword, until the reign 



176 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

of Innocent III. His great power enabled him 
not only to turn a casual storm against a parti- 
cular sect of heretics of the day ; but to engage 
the temporal weapon, by a general and perpetual 
edict, in the service of the spiritual. The third 
Canon of the Lateran council, held by that Pon- 
tiff, contained an injunction to the effect that the 
temporal lords be admonished, and if necessary, 
compelled by censures, to make a public oath to 
exterminate heretics from their territories. If 
any one, being thus required, shall refuse to 
purge his land, he shall be excommunicated by 
the Metropolitan and his suffragans ; and if he 
shall give proof of still further contumacy, the 
Pope shall absolve his subjects from their fealty." 
— Wad. Oh. Hist. 

"Three hundred thousand pilgrims, induced by 
the united motives of avarice and superstition, 
filled the country of the Albigenses with carnage 
and confusion for a number of years. The reader, 
who is not versed in history of this kind, can 
scarcely conceive the scenes of baseness, perfidy, 
barbarity, indecency, and hypocrisy, over which 
Innocent presided ; and which were conducted 
partly by his legates, and partly by the infamous 
Earl Simon, of Montfort. Butlet it suffice to have 
said this in general : it is more to our purpose to 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 177 

observe the spirit of the people of God in these 
grievous tribulations. The castle of Menerbe, on 
the frontiers of Spain, for want of water, was re- 
duced to the necessity of surrendering to the 
Pope's legate (in July A. D. 1210). A certain abbot 
undertook to preach to those who were found in 
the castle, and to exhort them to acknowledge 
the Pope. But they interrupted his discourse, 
declaring that his labor was to no purpose. Earl 
Simon and the legate then caused a great fire to 
be kindled ; and they burned a hundred and forty 
persons of both sexes. These martyrs died in 
triumph, praising God that he had counted them 
worthy to suffer for the sake of Christ. . . . 
Another castle, named Termes, not far from 
Menerbe, in the territory of Narbonne, was taken 
by Simon in the year 1210. 'This place,' said 
Simon, 'is of all others the most execrable, because 
no mass has been sung in it for thirty years.' A 
remark which gives us some idea both of the sta- 
bility and numbers of the Waldenses : the very 
worship of Popery, it seems, was expelled from 
this place."— Hist. Oh. Christ, 3, 358. 

In the year 1209, a formidable army of crusa- 
ders appeared against the heretics, who were 
comprehended under the general denomination 
of Albigenses, and commenced an open war, 



178 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

which they carried on with the utmost exertions 
of cruelty, though with various success for sev- 
eral years. The chief director of this ecclesiasti- 
cal war was Arnold, abbot of the Cistercians, and 
legate of the Pope ; and the commander-in-chief 
of the troops employed in the expedition was 
Simon, Earl of Montfort. . . . The Earl of 
Montf ort had embarked in this war, not so much 
from a principle of zeal for religion, or of aver- 
sion to the heretics, as from a desire of augment- 
ing his fortune, which he hoped to improve by 
obtaining the territories of Raymond ; and his 
selfish views were seconded and accomplished by 
the court of Rome. It is impossible to contem- 
plate the vast effusion of human blood on this 
occasion without emotions of horror ; for, in the 
course of these wars, not less than a million of 
men are supposed to have been sacrificed; in 
which number are included 300,000 of the crusa- 
ders themselves ; and what aggravates the horror 
to the utmost extreme is, that the name of Christ 
should have been profaned to sanction the havoc." 
—Bitter's Church History, 259. 

These quotations relate to a few of the many 
terrible events that occurred at the time indica- 
ted by 666, and the beginning of the "time, times, 
and the dividing of time," or the 350 years dur- 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 179 

ing which the clerical and secular beasts "made 
war with the saints, and prevailed against them." 
As it is our chief concern to point out the events 
that mark the beginning and ending of the peri- 
ods indicated by the prophetic numbers, we shall 
omit further mention of the occurences of these 
times, and pass to a consideration of those of the 
latter part of the 350 years. 

u And a reed like a rod was given to me ; and 
it was said: Rise and measure the Temple of 
God, and the altar, and those who worship in it." 
—Rev. xi. 1. 

As before stated this scripture alludes to the 
measurement and testing of the assumptions and 
pretensions of Romanism by the Word of God, 
"which is the only rule, and the sufficient rule, 
both of our faith and practice." These assumptions 
and pretensions had already been "weighed in 
the balances and found wanting," by Peter 
Waldo, John Wickliff , John Huss, and many oth- 
ers ; but now it is to be done more completely and 
successfully than ever before, by Erasmus, Zuing- 
lius, Luther, Melancthon, Calvin, and others. 

"Erasmus was fully aware that the assump- 
tions of Popery were unfounded, and he exposed 
the frauds, vices, and corruptions of the Church 
of Rome, in the most lively colors. In this re- 



180 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

spect his writings were of great use in promoting 
the outward work of the Reformation, and his 
application of the uncommon literary talents 
which he possessed, to the furtherance of scrip- 
tural knowledge, was of still greater importance. 
It must not be forgotten that the New Testament 
was first printed in Greek by the labors of Eras- 
mus, and that at an early period of the Reforma- 
tion, a hundred thousand copies of his Latin 
version had been circulated." — Hist. Ok. Christ, 
vol. 6, 115. 

"When, in A. D. 1515, Erasmus published his 
edition of the New Testament, and thus 'laid the 
egg which Luther hatched,' the clergy exclaimed 
against the act as dangerous, if not impious."— ' 
Wad. Ok. Hist. 549. 

"During the stirring and eventful period of 
the early rivalries of Francis I. and Charles V — 
a period full of great events, of conquests and 
reverses, all arising out of the selfish views of 
individual monarchs, but none of them causing 
any lasting change or progress in human affairs, 
the great principle of religious freedom began to 
agitate all classes, and to give fresh life to the 
public mind of Europe. At this time the Pope, 
as the head of the Catholic religion, assumed to 
himself both spiritual and temporal power over 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 181 

all the kingdoms of the world : often, amidst the 
blackest crimes, and immersed in the grossest 
sensualities, he avowed, and his adherents pro- 
claimed, the doctrine of his infallibility, or 'entire 
exemption from liability to err'; and although 
bold men in every age had protested against 
Papal pretensions, yet the great mass of the peo- 
ple, the clergy, the nobility, and the monarchs, 
still regarded the Pope as supreme and infallible 
authority over the thoughts and actions of men. 
The memory and opinions of Wickliff the re- 
former had been solemnly condemned by the 
council of Constance thirty years after his death: 
John Huss, and Jerome of Prague, with a host of 
less celebrated martyrs, had been publicly burned 
for professing heretical opinions ; and the creed 
of the unfortunate Albigenses had been extin- 
guished in blood. Yet as civilization advanced, 
the moral power and authority of the Popes 
declined; and the spirit of religious inquiry 
daily grew more rife : the Pope was less popular 
in his own dominions than at a distance ; and 
while the imperial city was sacked by the haugh- 
ty Bourbon, and the Pope himself was held a 
prisoner by the tumultuous soldiery, his emis- 
saries were collecting tribute in the German do- 
minions, and along the shores of the Baltic. The 



182 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

avarice of the Pope, Leo X., was equal to the 
credulity of the Germans ; and billets of salva- 
tion, or indulgences professing to remit the 
punishment due to sins, even before the commis- 
sion of the contemplated crime, were sold by 
thousands among the German peasantry. Martin 
Luther, a man of high reputation for sanctity and 
learning, and then professor of theology at Wit- 
temberg on the Elbe, first called in question the 
efficacy of these indulgences ; and his word, like 
a talisman, broke the spell of Eomish supremacy. 
In A. D. 1517 Luther first read in public his fa- 
mous theses, or proposition (the result of his 
measurements), in which he bitterly inveighed 
against the traffic in indulgences, and challenged 
all the learned men of the day to contest them 
with him in a public disputation. Luther did 
not at once form the resolution to separate from 
the Romish Church ; but the pressure of circum- 
stances, and the warmth of controversy with his 
adversaries, impelled him from one step to an- 
other ; and as he enlarged his observation and 
reading, and discovered new abuses and errors, 
he began to entertain doubts of the Pope's divine 
authority — rejected the doctrine of his infallibil- 
ity—gradually abolished the practice of mass, 
auricular confession, and the worship of images 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 183 

— denied the doctrine of purgatory, and opposed 
the fastings of the Romish Church, monastic 
vows, and the celibacy of the clergy. In A. D. 
1520 the Pope declared the writings of Luther 
heretical; and Luther in return solemnly burned, 
on the public square of Wittemberg, the Papal 
bull of condemnation, and the volumes of the 
canon law of the Romish Church. . . . The 
art of printing rapidly spread the tenets of the 
reformers; and many of the German princes 
espoused the cause of Luther, and gave him pro- 
tection. But Charles Y. . . . determined to 
arrest the farther progress of the Pef ormation ; 
and for this purpose ... he assembled a diet of 
the empire at Spires. . . . The reformers, including 
nearly half the German princes, entered a violent 
protest against the proceedings, on which account 
they were distinguished as Protestants. . . . 
In the year 1530 Charles assembled another diet 
of the empire at Augsburg, to try the great cause 
of the Reformation , . . . although he was 
urged by the Pope to have recourse at once to the 
most rigorous measures against the stubborn en- 
emies of the Catholic faith. . . . Charles was 
preparing to employ violence, when the Protes- 
tant princes of Germany concluded a defensive 
league (Dec. A. D. 1530), and having obtained 



184 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

promise of aid from the kings of France, England 
and Denmark, held themselves ready for combat. 
... In addition to these obstacles to the pur- 
pose of Charles, at this moment the Turkish Sul- 
tan, Solyman the Magnificent, invaded Hungary, 
at the head of three hundred thousand men; 
and Charles, fearing the consequences of a reli- 
gious war at this juncture, hastened to offer to 
the Protestants all the toleration they demanded, 
until the next diet, . . . On his return from 
this expedition (against the Moors) he found the 
king of France preparing for war against him ; 
and the hostilities which immediately broke out 
between the rival monarclis delayed the decisive 
rupture between the Catholics and Protestants 
of Germany for a period of twelve years. . . . 
At the time of the death of the king of France 
and the king of England, Charles V. was engaged 
in a war with his Protestant German subjects, 
having now determined, in concert with the 
Pope, to adopt decisive measures for putting 
down the Kef ormation in his dominions. At the 
commencement of the war, the Protestant Ger- 
man States, although abandoned by France, 
Denmark and England, leagued together for the 
common defense ; but Maurice of Saxony, one of 
the leading Protestant princes, deserted to the 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 185 

emperor, and the isolated members of the league 
were soon overthrown. The rule of Charles now 
became highly tyrannical; and Catholics and 
Protestants equally declaimed against him." — 
WillsoTbS Out. Hist. 

"And at this time shall Michael stand up, the 
great prince which standeth for the children of 
thy people ; and there shall be a time of trouble, 
such as never was since there was a nation even 
to that same time." Dan. xii. 1. 

"And there was war in heaven (among the gods 
or rulers of this world), Michael (Maurice of Sax- 
ony) and his angels (Protestant allies) fought 
with the dragon (the emperor Charles V.) ; and 
the dragon and his angels fought, and prevailed 
not, nor was their place found any more in 
heaven." Eev. xii. 7, 8. 

These two passages of Scripture doubtless re- 
fer to the same events, and they are those which 
in Rev. xi. 11, are indicated by the symbol of the 
Witnesses rising up and standing upon their feet. 
In Daniel the events are located chronologically 
by two statements. First, Chapter xi. 46, "And 
he (the Turk) shall plant the tabernacles of his 
palace (the capital of the empire) between the 
seas (the Black Sea and the Mediterranean) in 
the glorious holy mountain," — Constantinople; 



186 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

and, second, Chap. xii. 6, 7, (omitting the words 
in italics), "How long the end of these wonders? 
. . . For a time (one century) times (two cen- 
turies) and a half "—a half century. The question 
is, How long shall it be from the standing up of 
Michael, or 'the fleeing of the woman into the 
wilderness, to the end of the events mentioned? 
and the answer is, 350 years. And this period, 
which is that of the third woe, is to succeed that 
of the second woe, during which the Turks took 
Constantinople. In Rev. xii. Michael is to stand 
up at the end of the "thousand two hundred and 
sixty" years of ver. 6, and at the beginning of the 
"time (one century) and times (two centuries) and 
half a time— a half century, or the 350 years that 
the woman is to remain in the wilderness, "away 
from the presence of the serpent." And accord- 
ing to Rev. xi. these events were to occur at the 
end of the "thousand two hundred and sixty 
days," or years, during which the Witnesses were 
to prophesy in sackcloth, and at the time when 
it could be said, "The second (the Turkish) woe 
is past ; behold, the third (the Protestant) woe 
comes quickly." Surely the time that is designa- 
ted in this remarkable manner must be of vast 
importance to the world. 
"At length Maurice, to whom Charles was 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 187 

chiefly indebted for his recent victories, being 
secretly dissatisfied with the conduct of the em- 
peror, formed a bold plan for establishing relig- 
ious freedom and German liberties, but concealed 
his project until the most favorable moment for 
putting it into execution. Having concluded 
a secret treaty with Henry II., of France, the son 
and successor of Francis, in A. D. 1552 (March 15) 
he suddenly proclaimed war against the emperor, 
issuing at the same time a manifesto of grievances. 
Charles (the dragon), taken completely by sur- 
prise, narrowly escaped being made prisoner ; 
and after having had the mortification of seeing 
all his projects overthrown by the man whom he 
had most trusted, he was compelled to sign the 
convention of Passau with the Protestants. Three 
years later the bad success of the war which he 
carried on against France changed this conven- 
tion into the definite peace of Augsburg (Sept. 
A. D. 1555), by which the free exercise of religion 
was secured to the Protestants throughout Ger- 
many. . . . Such was the first victory of re- 
ligious liberty wider the banner of the Reformation. 
The spirit that had been awakened, pursued, 
from this time a determined course, and all the 
efforts of princes were not able to arrest its pro- 
gress."— Willson's Out Hist, 337. 



188 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

This quotation shows the fulfilment of the pre- 
dictions respecting the standing up of Michael, 
and the war in heaven — the heaven in which 
reigns "Our Lord Gcd the Pope," u who opposes 
and exalts himself above every one that is called 
God, or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God 
in the temple of God, openly showing himself 
that he is God" (2 Thess. ii. 40; and of which 
heaven the dragonic powers of Europe— the em- 
perors, kings and princes are the sun moon and 
stars. Of this war and the circumstances attend- 
ing it, more will be said in the thirteenth chap- 
ter ; yet before we conclude the present we must 
measure our work, to see if our adaptation of his- 
tory to prophecy has been made according to the 
scale of the prophetic numbers. We have three 
measurements to make : 

1. u And they (the saints) shall be given into 
his (the Pope's) hand until (or during) a time 
(one century) and times (two centuries) and the 
dividing of time," — a half century; which are 
equal to 350 prophetic, or 345 historical years, and 
commenced in the remarkable year 1210, the time 
indicated by the number 666, and when the wai 
against the Jews and Waldenses began, it ends 
with the ascent of the Witnesses to heaven in A. 
D. 1555. 350-5 = 345 + 1210 = 1555. 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 189 

2. "And when they shall have finished their 
testm o ry, the beast that ascends out of the abyss, 
(the ten-horned beast of Eev. xiii.) will make war 
with them, and overcome them, and kill them. 
. . . And some of the people and tribes and 
tongnes and nations (the delegates that had come 
from every nation in Christendom to the Council 
of Trent, which was held at this time) will see 
their dead bodies three days (years) and a half, 
and will not suffer their dead bodies to be put 
into sepulchres. . . . And after the three days 
and a half, the spirit of life from God entered in- 
to them, and they stood upon their feet ; and 
great fear fell upon those who saw them ("the 
Council of Trent dissolved itself with consterna- 
tion, and was not able to reassemble for the space 
of ten years" Rider's Ch. Hist, 325). And they 
heard a great voice from heaven, saying to them : 
Come up hither. And they w ent up into heaven 
in a cloud, and their enemies beheld them." Eev. 
xi. 7-12. 

This prophecy relates to the treatment of the 
Protestants by the emperor Charles V., the suc- 
cessor of Constantine the institutor of Imperial, 
or Dragonic Christianity — "the beast that ascends 
out of the abyss." Constantine's career as em- 
peror commenced in A. D. 306, on the death in 



190 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

Britain of his father Constantius, "whose death 
was immediately succeeded by the elevation of 
Constantine, who w r as saluted by the troops with 
the names of Augustus and Emperor." — Gibbon. 
Returning from Britain Constantine's authority 
was fully established in Rome in A. D. 313, in 
which year he issued the Edict of Milan, and as- 
sumed the position of Antichrist by convening a 
council to regulate the affairs of the Christian 
Church. Between these two dates, A. D. 306 and 
313, there intervenes seven years, which are equal 
to two periods of "three days (years) and a half" 
each ; and in measuring from the first date with 
the "forty-two months," or the 1242 solar years, 
we reach the year 1548, when commenced the 
time of the entire prostration of the Witnesses. 
After completely subduing the military power of 
the Protestants, in A. D. 1548 the emperor had 
framed a system of doctrines called the "Interim," 
which "was opposed to the Reformation upon all 
the leading points in dispute," and with which 
he endeavored to force all his subjects to com- 
ply. Respecting the Interim, Bullinger wrote to 
Calvin : "I fear that true religion is destroyed in 
Germany. The emperor, w r ith the assistance and 
consent of the princes and states, with a very 
few exceptions, has drawn up the Interim. Thi^ 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 191 

is the name given to a formulary of religion 
which all the churches of Germany are to follow 
in the interim, until the Pope is compelled to 
hold a general council. This Interim is nothing 
but mere Popery. I have seen the heads of it, 
I have seen the answers of the princes who call 
themselves Catholics. They receive it. You 
may suppose what sort of a composition it is 
which these impious vassals of antichrist re- 
ceive ;" and Hardenberg wrote to Melaiicthon : 
"Last week I was in East Friezeland, and saw 
there the violent edict of the emperor, who now 
appears to carry the sword in one hand, and gold 
in the other, that he may either compel by force, 
or corrupt by bribery. That decree, as if written 
in letters of blood, declares that every tittle of 
the Interim must be observed."— Hist Ch. Christ 
vol. 6, p. 344, 346. The Witnesses were now en- 
tirely dead. Their faith and worship had no 
legal existence whatever. The delegates of the 
great Council of Trent, then in session, saw '"their 
dead bodies three days (years) and a half," and 
the Imperialists and Papists the world over "re- 
joiced over them and made merry." But in 
March, A. D. 1552, Michael (Maurice of Saxony) 
made war with the dragon, (the emperor) the 
Witnesses "stood upon their feet ; and great fear 



192 THE PROPHETIC NUHBEES. 

fell upon those who saw them." "The Council of 
Trent dissolved itself with consternation," and 
the terror-stricken delegates hastened to their 
homes. Thus ended the first three and a hah: 
years. The second period began in March A. D. 
1552, with the rising of Maurice. The emperor 
was soon defeated. In August was signed the 
treaty of Passau, which gave toleration to the 
reformed faith, and in September A. D. 1555, just 
three and a half years from the rising of Maurice, 
the Witnesses "heard a great noise from heaven 
(the edict of the great Diet of Augsburg) saying 
to them : Come up hither" — to the heaven of 
civil and religious liberty, power, security, and 
peace, after the long season of oppression by the 
dragon and beast. 

3. To the ten-homed Imperial beast "authority 
was given to continue forty-two months" (Rev. xii. 
5.) and the woman was to remain in the wilder- 
ness (Rev. xii. 6), and the two Witnesses, clothed 
in sackcloth, were to prophesy a thousand two 
hundred and sixty days. Rev. xi. 3. Forty-two 
months of thirty days each equals the 1260 days, 
and these symbolize 1260 prophetic years which 
are equal to 1242 historic years ; and this period, 
commenced in A. D. 313, at the end of the 280 
years of the sun-clothed Woman, when Constan- 



THE TWO WITNESSES. 193 

tine usurped the throne of G-od by becoming 
the supreme head of the Christian, as he was 
also of the Pagan religion, and when, on account 
of the corruption of Christianity, the Woman (the 
true Church) retired to the wilderness, and the 
faithful Witnesses began to prophesy against the 
abominations, it will end, as do the other num- 
bers, in the grand, ever memorable year 1555 ! 
1260 - 18 - 1242 + 313 - 1555. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE SEVENTH TRUMPET — THE THIRD WOE. 

"And the angel that I saw standing on the sea and on the 
land, lifted up his right hand to heaven, and swore by Him that 
lives from age to age, who created the heaven and the things 
that are in it, and the earth and the things that are in it, and 
the sea and the things that are in it. That time should no long- 
er intervene, but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, 
when he shall sound his trumpet ; the mystery of God should 
be finished, as He has declared to His servants the prophets." 
Rev. x. 5-7. 

"And the seventh angel sounded ; and there were great voices 
in heaven, saying : The kingdom of the world has become our 
Lord's and His Christ's, and he shall reign from age to age. 
And the twenty-four elders that sat before God on their thrones 
fell upon their faces, and worshiped God, saying : We give thee 
thanks, O Lord God Almighty, who art, and who wast, be- 
cause Thou hast taken Thy great power, and hast reigned. 
And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath has come, and the 
time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that Thou 
shouldst give reward to Thy servants the prophets, and to the 
saints, and to those who fear Thy name, both small and great, 
and that Thou shouldst destroy those who corrupt the earth." 
Rev. xi. 15-19. 

"And I saw another sign in heaven, great and wonderful: 
Seven angels that had seven plagues, which are the last ; for by 
them the wrath of God is brought to an end." Rev. xv. 1. 

What is said above respecting the period of the 
seventh trumpet affords a prospective outline of 
the important events that were to transpire dur- 



THE SEVENTH TRUMPET — THE THIRD WOE. 195 

ing the time of the blast of the trumpet of the 
seventh angel — the third woe — the seven plagues 
which are the last— A. D. 1555-1923 ; during which 
Christ will establish His reign over the world, 
destroy those who corrupt the earth — the dragon, 
beast, and false prophet, and bring to an end the 
wrath of God towards our apostate race. 
The prominent points to be noticed are : 

1. Unlike the scene attending the opening of 
the seventh seal, when there was silence in heaven, 
the spectators being struck dumb with astonish- 
ment by a view of the terrible reign of Antichrist, 
on the sounding of the seventh trumpet "there 
were great voices in heaven, saying : The kingdom 
of the world has become our Lord's and His 
Christ's, and he shall reign from age to age." 

2. The angel that stood "on the sea and on the 
land" swore "that time should no longer inter- 
vene." That is, that there should be no interven- 
ing time between the periods of the second and 
third woes, no further withholding of the wrath 
of God, that should "destroy those who corrupt 
the earth," "but in the days of the voice of the 
seventh angel, when he shall sound his trumpet, 
the mystery of God should be finished as He has 
declared to His servants the prophets." 

The present state of man upon the earth is a 



196 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

mystery so profound that the human intellect 
has never comprehended it. By the aid of the 
divine revelation we are enabled to "see through 
a mirror, obscurely," but to those who reject, or 
pervert the Word of God, all is darkness and 
mystery. But still it is "the mystery of God," it 
exists in the order of His providence, and well 
will it be with those who leave the control of the 
things that are incomprehensible to the Omnis- 
cient, and avail themselves of the aid and influ- 
ence of the divine Word and Spirit which are 
competent to "make them wise unto salvation," 
while they rejoice in the assurance that their 
present mysterious condition of imperfect knowl- 
edge, and their subjection to the world, the flesh, 
and the devil, shall soon be finished, even at 
the exact time, and in the very same manner 
that God "has declared to His servants the pro- 
phets." 

3. The wrath of God is to be poured out upon 
the angry and maddened nations of the earth. 
During the first and second woes the Saracens 
and Turks were employed to restrain the idolatry 
and despotism of imperial and clerical Koman- 
ism, but during the third woe the false prophet, 
as well as the dragon and the beast,— those three 
great corrupters of the earth shall be entirely de- 



THE SEVENTH TRUMPET — THE THIRD WOE. 197 

stroyed — their civil and religious politics com- 
pletely annihilated. 

4. The kingdom, the entire dominion of the 
world, is to "become our Lord's and His Christ's." 
This is the glorious consummation and end ; of 
which all former kingdoms have been typical, 
and for which they have been preparatory. And 
this, the reigning of the Lord, is the theme that 
thrills the heavenly host : "We give Thee thanks, 
O Lord God Almighty, who art, and who wast, 
because Thou hast taken Thy great power, and 
hast reigned." 

5. Another very important event that is to 
take place during the period of the seventh trum- 
pet, or the "seven plagues which are the last," is 
"the first resurrection," "the time of the dead, 
that they should be judged, and tliat Thou 
shouldst give reward to Thy servants the pro- 
phets, and to the saints, and to those who fear 
Thy name, both small and great." "Blessed and 
holy is he that has part in the first resurrection ; 
over such the second death has no power : but 
they shall be priests of God and of the Christ, and 
shall reign with him a thousand years." Rev. xx. 6. 

As was stated in Chapter IV. there is no time 
to be allotted to the seventh trumpet, but that 
which is occupied by the seven plagues, which 



198 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

are seven constituent parts of the seventh trum- 
pet. The plagues are counterparts of the trum- 
pets. The first trumpet and first plague afflict 
the land; the second trumpet and plague relate 
to the sea; the third trumpet and plague affect 
"the rivers and fountains of water; 11 the fourth 
trumpet and plague concern the sun; the fifth 
trumpet and plague allude to the beast, or Papacy; 
and the sixth trumpet and plague pertain to "the 
great river Euphrates? And, as we have seen 
that the seals related to the condition of primitive 
Christianity in its conflicts with Paganism, and 
the trumpets to the growth of Imperial and Papal 
Christianity under the restraints of the Barbari- 
an, Saracen and Turkish invasions and conquests, 
so, in the sequel, we shall see that the plagues re- 
fer to the destruction of Imperialism, Clericalism 
and Islamism, by the revived Witnesses, who 
"have authority over the waters (people where 
the harlot sits), to turn them to blood, and to 
smite the earth (Roman dominions) with every 
plague (the seven plagues) as often as they wish. 11 
Rev. xi. 6. Similar symbolical language is used 
to describe the events of the plagues as those of 
the trumpets; and, as we believe we have cor- 
rectly adapted history to prophecy under the 
trumpets, Ave may hope to be equally successful 



THE SEVENTH TRUMPET— THE THIRD WOE. 199 

with the plagues. And as the period of the 
plagues is nearer to, and includes our own times 
and the events to which the prophetic numbers 
chiefly apply, we shall find our future studies 
more interesting than the past. 

The great systems of wickedness and cruelty 
had a gradual development, and they will have 
a correspondingly gradual decadence. Step by 
step they came up, and step by step they Avill go 
down. Their advancement was under the trum- 
pets, their decline will be under the plagues ; and 
the several prophetic numbers of Daniel and the 
Revelation will reach from every important cir- 
cumstance that facilitated their growth to corres- 
ponding events that will effect their decay and 
destruction. 

The prophecies of Daniel and of the Revelation 
are not arranged in exact chronological order, 
and it is sometimes difficult, and, without the 
proper use of the prophetic numbers, impossible 
to place the predictions and the corresponding 
events in their proper historical position. Neb- 
uchadnezzar's image and Daniel's four wild 
beasts represent the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, 
Macedonian and Roman empires as the links of 
a chain that reaches to the end of the present 
dispensation, when the saints of "the Most High 



200 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

shall take the kingdom and possess the kingdom 
for ever, even for ever and ever." 

The twelfth chapter of the Revelation gives an 
outline of the condition of the Gentile Church in 
the Roman world from the time of its institution 
by the Christians driven from Jerusalem by the 
persecution following the martyrdom of Stephen 
in A. D. 33, to the end of the Christian age ; and 
the fourteenth of the Revelation specifies the 
more important events of the last 200 years : the 
universal propagation of the Gospel (ver. 6, 7.); the 
destruction of the Pope's temporal power in 1870 
(ver. 8) ; the warning to the world that the final 
judgments of heaven upon the beast and his im- 
age are about to take place (ver. 9-11) ; the patient 
waiting of the informed Christians for the com- 
ing of Christ (ver. 12) — to resurrect the sleeping 
saints (ver. 13), to reap His precious wheat still 
growing upon the earth (ver. 14-16), and then to 
crush the finally impenitent in "the great wine- 
press of the wrath of God." But, in the opening 
of the seven seals, the sounding of the seven 
trumpets and the pouring of the seven vials, cups, 
or plagues we have chronologically arranged the 
more important events occurring all along the 
path of time from Jerusalem in A. D. 33, to the 
farther side of Armageddon, in A. D. 1923. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE FIBST PLAGUE. 



1555—1579. 



"I "beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and 
prevailed against them, until the Ancient of days came, and 
judgment was given to the saints of the Most High." Dan. vii. 
21, 22. 

' : And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the 
tenth part of the city fell. . . . The second woe is past : 
behold, the third woe comes quickly." Rev. xi. 13, 14. 

"And there was war in heaven; Michael and his angels 
fought with the dragon ; and the dragon and his angels fought, 
and prevailed not : nor was there peace found any more in 
heaven. And the great dragon, that old serpent, called the 
devil, and satan, who deceives the whole world, was cast into 
the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard 
a great voice in heaven, saying : iSfow has come the salvation, 
and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority 
of his Christ : for the accuser of our brethren, he that accused 
them before our God day and night, is cast down. And they 
overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of 
their testimony ; and they loved not their lives even to death. 
Therefore, rejoice you heavens, and you that dwell in them. 
Alas for the land and for the sea ! for the devil has come down 
to you with great anger, because he knows that he has but a 
short time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast into 
the earth, he persecuted the woman that brought forth the male 
child." Rev. xii. 7-13. 



202 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

"And the first angel went, and poured out his cup on the 
land; and there came a hurtful and afflictive sore upon the men 
that had the mark of the beast, and that worshiped his image. " 
Kev. xvi. 1. 

The above passages of figurative and symbolic 
Scripture doubtless allude to the important 
events which occurred about the year 1555 as we 
have already indicated by historical quotations 
and the measurements made with several pro- 
phetic numbers. But they refer also to the time 
succeeding the ascent of the Witnesses, A. D. 
1555 to 1579, which constitutes the period of the 
first plague of the wrath of God upon the domin- 
ions of the dragon and beast. 

We may notice : 1. That the passage from 
Daniel, taken in connection with the time given 
in the twenty-fifth verse of the same chapter, 
shows that the Rome-Papal war with the saints 
should continue "until the Ancient of days (the 
Eternal, the 'Judge of all the earth') came, and 
judgment was given to the saints of the Most 
High." This accords with the answer of the 
Lord to the prayer of the Rome-Pagan martyrs 
(Rev. vii. 9-11) : "How long, O Sovereign, holy 
and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our 
blood on them that dwell on the earth ? And a 
white robe was given to each of them : and it 
was said to them, that they should yet rest for a' 



THE FIRST PLAGUE. 203 

time, till the number of their fellow-servants, and 
of their brethren, who should be killed as they 
had been, should be completed." 

In A. D. 1555 the second great period of the 
killing of the Witnesses of Jesus here alluded to 
had passed ; the God of the martyrs had come to 
judge in their behalf, and to avenge their blood 
upon their murderers ; the terrible tide of Romish 
tyranny, superstition, and error had commenced 
to roll off the fair face of Europe ; the religion of 
the Bible had taken the place of that of the Pope 
and emperor ; salvation by faith in the blood of 
the Lamb, the grand fundamental doctrine of 
the Gospel, was raised to prominence ; and the 
joyful Germans sang : "Now has come the salva- 
tion, and the power, and the kingdom of our 
God, and the authority of his Christ; for the 
accuser of our brethren, he that accused them 
before our God day and night, is cast down. And 
they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and 
by the word of their testimony ; and they loved 
not their lives even to death. Therefore, rejoice 
you heavens, and you that dwell in them." (Rev. 
xii. 10-12). The prophetic Scriptures invariably 
teach that the Fourth Universal Empire, the 
Roman, is to be succeeded by "the Kingdom of 
our God," and that "the saints of the Most High 



204 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom 
for ever, even for ever and ever" (Dan. vii. 13). 
In A. D. 1555, at the end of the "forty- two months" 
from the institution of Dragonic Christianity, 
the dragon was cast down, and just then was the 
incipiency of "the kingdom of our God and the 
authority of his Christ." But as the develop- 
ment of Imperial and Papal Christianity occu- 
pied the time from A. D. 313 to 681, so the decline 
and destruction of these systems of error and 
despotism, and the development of "the kingdom 
of God," will occupy the period from A. D. 1555 
to 1923 ; and the "forty-two months," or 1242 solar 
years, will reach from every prominent circum- 
stance in their upward career, to corresponding 
events in their downward course : for this meas- 
ure of time applies to the Harlot of Rome as 
well as to the family of the ten-horned dragon, 
of which she is an overgrown and lewd mem- 
ber. 

2. That after the fight of Michael and his 
angels with the dragon and his angels, or of 
Maurice of Saxony and his allies, with the em- 
peror Charles and his allies, "the great dragon 
(the emperor) . . . was cast into the earth, 
and his angels were cast out with him." The fall 
of Charles V. was of a two-fold nature : (a), From 



THE FIRST PLAGUE. 205 

being just then the most powerful monarch on 
earth (the Pope of Rome and Solyman the Mag- 
nificent, his rival arch-despots, profoundly re- 
spected his mighty power) in three years and a 
half from the rising up of his vassal, Maurice, his 
military power was so shattered that he soon abdi- 
cated his throne and retired to a monastery to 
end his days. Thus fell the Great I>ragon from 
the highest heaven of monarchical greatness, into 
the earthly condition of ordinary mortals, (b), 
Also, in the estimation of the Pope, the god of 
the heaven of which the emperor was the sun, 
Charles was cast down to the earth. We have 
seen that the purpose of the Pope in reviving the 
Emperor of the West in the person of Charle- 
magne, was that "all, small and great, rich and 
poor, freehand bond" should be compelled to sub- 
mit to Imperial and Papal authority, and that he 
might "cause as many as would not worship the 
image of the beast, to be killed." These duties, 
in the main, Charlemagne's successors faithfully 
performed, but at the end of the "forty-two 
months," the power of the Dragon being broken, 
he was unable longer "to make war with the 
saints" and to kill heretics, and then the Mother 
of Harlots turned from him in disgust, and 
adopted as her favorite paramour the vigorous 



206 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

sovereign of the French monarchy, which from 
A. D. 1555 to 1870 was the sun of the Papal world 
— the principal horn of the monarchical dragon 
of Europe. 

The following quotations relate to the fall of 
the Emperor Charles V. : "The treaty of Augs- 
burg was to Charles V. the hand- writing on the 
wall which showed him that the end of the 
mighty power which he had wielded was fast 
approaching. So offended was the Pope at the 
sanction which Charles had given to the principles 
of religious toleration, that he became the avowed 
enemy of the house of Austria, and entered into a 
close alliance with the young king of France. 
Charles saw, from afar, the storm that was ap- 
proaching, and, abandoned as he was by fortune, 
afflicted by disease, and opposed in his declining 
years by a rival in the full vigor of life, he wisely 
resolved not to forfeit his fame by vainly strug- 
gling to reclaim a power which he was no longer 
able to wield ; and, in imitation of Diocletian, to 
the surprise of the world, he abdicated his throne, 
and having resigned his German empire to his 
brother Ferdinand, and his kingdoms of Spain, 
the Netherlands, and Italy, to his son Philip, he 
retired to end his days in the solitude of the monas- 
tery of St. Just. 11 ( Will. Out. Hist. 337.) "Maurice 



t::e first plague. 207 

was now only two days march from Insprnck, 
and but for a mutiny of one of his battalions, 
which delayed him some hours, Charles would 
probably have fallen into his hands! The em- 
peror was apprized of his danger at a late hour 
in the evening of May Uie 22nd : as nothing but 
immediate flight could save him, he caused him- 
self to be put into a litter, though suffering much 
from the gout. He regarded not the darkness of 
the night, nor the heavy rain which was then 
falling, but leaving Inspruck, travelled by torch- 
light through the difficult and dangerous paths 
among the mountains. King Ferdinand, with 
his attendants, followed the emperor in the ut- 
most confusion, many of them on foot. The 
principal nobility of the Spanish and German 
courts were compelled to find their way as well 
as they could, through slippery paths, and 
drenched with rain, all ranks confounded to- 
gether : nor did the emperor stop till he reached 
Villach, in Corinthia." ("The great dragon . . . 
was cast into the earth, and his angels were cast 
out with him.") "Charles was not able to com- 
plete the arrangement of these vast and compli- 
cated affairs until the month of September, A. 1). 
1556, when he embarked for Spain, where he had 
caused a place to be prepared for his future resi- 



208 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

dence near Placentia, in Estremadura. 'Into 
this humble retreat,' says Dr. Kobertson, 'scarce- 
ly sufficient for the comfortable accommodation 
of a private gentleman, did Charles enter with 
twelve domestics only. He buried there in soli- 
tude and silence his grandeur and his ambition, 
together with all those vast projects which, 
during half a century, he had alarmed and agi- 
tated Europe, filling every kingdom in it, by 
turns, with the terror of his arms, and the dread 
of being subjected to his power'."— Hist Ch. 
Christ, vol. 6, 364, 379. 

3. That the substance of the Edict of Milan 
was almost an exact counterpart of the treaty of 
Augsburg which called on the Protestants to 
ascend to the heaven of civil and religious lib- 
erty. The former broke the power of Rome- 
Pagan, ended the terrible persecutions of the 
early Church, restored to the Christians their 
confiscated property and privileges, and elevated 
them beyond the reach of their Pagan persecu- 
tors; and the latter broke the power of Rome- 
Papal, terminated the 345 years persecution of 
the Church in the Wilderness, restored to the 
revived and resurrected Witnesses full political 
and religious privileges and powers, of which 
their Papal enemies have never since been able 



THE FIEST PLAGUE. 209 

to deprive them. The Edict of Milan cast down, 
and gave the primitive Church its first victory 
over the Eome-Pagan dragon, and the Edict of 
Augsburg cast down, and gave to the restored 
Church its first triumph over the Rome-Papal 
dragon. The former introduced the reign of 
Antichrist, the latter "the kingdom of our God, 
and the authority of his Christ ; " and these two 
events, which are among the most important 
recorded in history, — the first occurring in A. D. 
313, and the last in A. D. 1555, are exactly span- 
ned by the prophetic number of "forty-two 
months" 

The following quotation shows the importance 
that the Christian historian attaches to the 
standing up of Michael, or Maurice of Saxony : 
"Maurice was wounded mortally by a pistol shot. 
He died two days after the battle, in the thirty- 
second year of his age. Such was the unexpected 
end of Maurice of Saxony, whose proceedings were 
fraught with more important consequences to the 
Church of Christ than those of any other prince 
since the days of Canstantine. . . . With the 
character of Maurice as a politician we have little 
to do. We have only to view him as an instru- 
ment raised up by God for the furtherance of the 
truths— Hist. Ch. Christ vol 6, 37L 



210 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

4. That as a result of the "great voice from 
heaven," the Edict of Augsburg, "there was a 
great earthquake and the tenth part of the city 
fell ; and in the earthquake there were slain 
names of men, seven thousand ; and the rest were 
frightened, and gave glory to the God of heaven." 
In the symbolism of prophetic scripture an earth- 
quake signifies a tremendous political convul- 
sion, the overthrow of monarchies, the dismem- 
berment of empires, etc.; and the "city" and 
"great city" allude to the dominions of the Pa- 
pacy. The fulfilment of this prophecy is found 
in the fact that at the time now under consider- 
ation, there was a dismemberment of the empire 
of Antichrist, for seven nations of men, or men 
of seven names— the Germans, the English, the 
Scotch, the Danes, the Swedes, the Swiss and the 
Dutch, "the tenth part of the city," renounced 
Roman Catholicism, and were slain, or cut off 
from the empire of the Pope. And the rest of 
Europe was frightened, or deeply affected and 
influenced by the principles of Reformation, so 
that, to some extent, they "gave glory to the God 
of heaven." 

5. That after the great earthquake, the seces- 
sion of seven nations from the empire of Anti- 
christ, the second, or Turkish woe, ended. Al- 



THE FIEST PLAGUE. 211 

ready it has been shown that the work of the 
Turks was to restrain and weaken the power of 
the dragon and beast, so that reformation and 
relief from their terrible tyranny might finally 
be possible ; and we have seen that attempts of 
the emperor and Pope to crush the Kef ormation 
were frustrated by Turkish invasions. The 
weakness of Charles when attacked by Maurice 
in A. D. 1552 was partly owing to the fact that 
"part of his Spanish troops had been ordered in- 
to Hungary against the Turks ;" in A. D. 1553 
"Naples was attacked by the Turkish fleet," 
which at that time was "the most formidable in 
Europe," and in A. D. 1555 the transactions of the 
Diet of Augsburg were very much influenced by 
the fact that "the Turks also continued to 
threaten the empire, and . . . there was every 
reason to expect another invasion of Hungary, if 
the internal peace of the empire was not estab- 
lished." But upon the acquisition of power by 
the Protestants, who were to inflict the third ivoe, 
and complete the destruction of Komanism, the 
second woe ended and the power of the Moslems 
rapidly declined. "In an attempt upon Malta in 
A. D. 1565, the whole naval force of Solyman was 
repulsed. In A. D. 1566 he again led a vast army 
to the invasion of Hungary, crossed the Drave, 



212 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

and laid siege to the fortress of Sziget, which was 
defended by a small garrison under Zrinyi ; but 
a paroxysm of anger at the terrible repulses he 
encountered induced an attack of apoplexy, in 
which he died a few days before the last and fa- 
tal assault was made. Under this sultan, the 
Ottoman empire attained its greatest military 
power, and it began immediately to decline under 
his successor, Selim II." — Am. Cyc, "Solyman 

6. That the expression "Alas for the land and 
for the sea ! for the devil has come down to you 
with great anger, because he knows he has but a 
short time," indicates that the victory of the 
Church of Christ over her enemies was not then 
complete, but that she had yet to endure terrible 
conflicts with her old adversary, the dragon. 
"Alas for the land and for the sea" denotes that 
dire conflicts were to occur during the time of 
the first and of the second plagues, when the suc- 
cessor of the dragonic Charles, having great an- 
ger because he knew he had but a short time, 
should exert to the utmost his diabolical energy 
to extinguish the reformed faith in all Europe. 
Philip well knew that his august predecessor had 
incurred the displeasure of the Pope by his ina- 
bility to suppress the Reformation, and that now 



THE FIRST PLAGUE. 213 

the court of Rome, that of France and all the 
Protestant States, were arrayed against him, and 
that unless he could recover the favor of, and an 
alliance with, his "Lord God the Pope," his pre- 
dominance in the affairs of Europe, and the reign 
of his dynasty, would have "but a short time." 
Hence the terrible wars, persecutions and massa- 
cres of the periods of the first and second plagues 
— for the purpose of regaining the favor of the 
Pope, and ascendency over the Protestants. This 
view accords with the language of the thirteenth 
verse : "And when the dragon saw that he was 
cast into the earth he persecuted the woman that 
brought forth the male child." This shows also 
that the revived Christianity that the successors 
of the fallen dragon persecuted was the same 
that brought forth the male child, Constantine. 
For the triumph of Christianity over Paganism 
in A. 1 ). 313 was a type of its victory over its Im- 
perial and Papal enemies in A. D. 1555, and both 
of these, doubtless, are typical of a final triumph 
over the dragon, beast and false prophet, that is 
to occur in the future, and the rising of Maurice 
is typical of the standing up of Michael— one 
who is like God — the Lord Jesus Christ— yet to 
take place. 
7. And that, in the grand, monumental year, 



214 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

A. D. 1555, there commenced a new era in the 
world's history, with the first of the "seven 
plagues, which are the last, for by them the wrath 
of God is brought to an end." "And the first 
angel went, and poured out his cup on the land 
(the dominions of the dragon) ; and there came a 
hurtful and afflictive sore upon the men that had 
the mark of the beast (the religion of the Pope), 
and that worship his image" (the abettors of Im- 
perialism). The following quotation illustrates 
this prophecy: "Elizabeth endeavored to pro- 
mote Protestant principles, as the best safeguard 
of her throne ; and in the year A. D. 1559 the 
parliament formally abolished the Papal suprem- 
acy, and established the Church of England in 
its present form. On the other side Philip II. 
was the champion of the Catholics ; and hence 
England now became the counterpoise to Spain, 
as France had been during the reign of Charles 
V., while the ancient rivalry between France and 
Spain prevented these Catholic powers from 
cordially uniting to check the progress of the 
Reformation. . . . During these events in 
Scotland, Elizabeth was carrying on a secret war 
against the attempts of Philip II. to establish the 
inquisition in the Netherlands, and also against 
a similar design of the Catholic party in France, 



THE FIRST PLAGUE. 215 

which ruled that country during the minority of 
the sovereign. In both these countries the at- 
tempts of the Catholic rulers provoked a des- 
perate resistance. In France, banishment or 
death became the penalty of heresy. . . . The 
object of the court, however, was not peace, but 
vengeance ; and Charles IX., now in his twentieth 
year, engaged zealously in the project of his 
mother Catherine, to entice the Protestant lead- 
ers to the capital, and there massacre them, and 
afterwards carry on the war of extermination 
against the Huguenots throughout the kingdom. 
For the purpose of enticing the Huguenots to 
the capital, and lulling them into security, it 
was proposed that young Henry of Navarre, a 
Protestant, should espouse the king's sister, Mar- 
garet, — a marriage which would in itself be a 
bond of union between the two parties. The 
nuptials were celebrated with the greatest mag- 
nificence ; and amid the festivities which fol- 
lowed, the plan of the massacre was matured. 
When the decree of extermination was placed be- 
fore Charles for his signature, he at first hesi- 
tated, appalled by the enormity of the deed, but 
at length signed it, exclaiming, 'let none escape 
to reproach me.' About three o'clock in the 
morning of St. Bartholomew's day, the 24th of 



216 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

August, A. D. 1572, the young duke of Guise and 
his band of cut-throats commenced the bloody 
work by breaking into the apartment of the aged 
Coligni, and slaying him while engaged in prayer; 
the tocsin was sounded, and the Catholics of 
Paris, with the sign of the cross in their caps to 
distinguish them, rushed forth to the massacre 
of their brethren. What is surprising, the vic- 
tims made no resistance ! They would not dero- 
gate, at such a moment, from their character of 
martyrs. The massacre lasted, in Paris, eight 
days and nights, without any apparent diminu- 
tion of the fury of the murderers. Charles com- 
manded the same scene to be renewed in every 
town throughout the kingdom ; and fifty thou- 
sand Protestants are believed to have fallen 
victims to the monarch's orders. ... A cir- 
cumstance as horrible as the massacre itself was 
the joy it excited. Philip IL, thinking Protes- 
tantism subdued, sent to congratulate the court 
of France: medals to commemorate the event 
were struck at Rome ; and the Pope went in state 
to his cathedral, and returned public thanks to 
heaven for this signal mercy. 

But the crime from which so much was ex- 
pected, produced neither peace nor advantage ; 
and the civil war was renewed with greater force 



THE FIEST PLAGUE. 217 

than ever: mere abhorrence of the massacre 
caused many Catholics to turn Huguenots ; and 
although the latter were at first paralyzed by the 
blow, the former were stung by remorse and 
shame. Charles himself seemed stricken already 
by avenging fate. As the accounts of the mur- 
ders of old men, women and children were suc- 
cessively brought to him, while the massacre 
continued, he drew aside M. Ambroise, his first 
surgeon, to whom he was much attached, al- 
though he was a Protestant, and said to him, 
Ambroise, I know not what has come over me 
these two or three days, but I find my mind and 
body in disorder ; I see everything as if I had a 
fever ; every moment, as well waking as sleeping, 
the hideous and bloody faces of the killed ap- 
pear before me ; I wish the weak and innocent 
had not been included.' From that time a con- 
tinued fever preyed upon him, and, eighteen 
months later carried him to the grave (May A. D. 
1574), but not until he had been compelled to 
grant the Huguenots a peace, after seeing that 
his grand and sweeping crime had but enfeebled 
the Catholic party, instead of insuring its triumph. 
"At the time of the massacre of St. Bartholo- 
mew, civil war was raging in the Netherlands. 
During the six years of the administration of the 



218 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

duke of Alva, Philip's governor in that country, 
the land was desolated by the insatiate cruelty 
of one of the greatest monsters of wickedness the 
world has ever seen ; and it is the recorded boast 
of Alva himself that, during his brief adminis- 
tration, he caused eighteen thousand of the in- 
habitants to perish by the hands of the execu- 
tioner. At length, in A. D. 1572, a general rising 
against the Spanish power was organized, the 
prince of Orange being at the head of the revolt- 
ers. After a war of varied fortunes on both sides, 
in A. D. 1576 the States-general, or congress, of 
most of the Batavian and Belgic provinces, met, 
and assumed the reins of government in the 
name of the king, and soon after concluded a 
union between the States, which is known as the 
Pacification of Ghent. The expulsion, from the 
country, of Spanish soldiers and other foreigners 
was decreed; Alva's sanguinary decrees and 
edicts against heresy were repealed, and religious 
toleration guaranteed. Ere long, however, the 
confederacy thus formed fell to pieces, owing to 
jealousies between the Catholic and Protestant 
States; and it became evident that freedom 
could be attained only by a closer union of the 
provinces, resting on an entire separation from 
Spain. Acting on this belief, in January, A. D. 



THE FIRST PLAGUE. 219 

1579, the prince of Orange convoked an assembly 
of deputies at Utrecht, where was signed the fa- 
mous act called the Union of Utrecht, the real 
basis, or fundamental compact of the Republic of 
the United provinces. Early in the following 
year (A. D. 1580) the States-general assembled at 
Antwerp, and, in spite of all the opposition of 
the Catholic deputies, the authority of Spain was 
renounced forever, and the "United Provinces" 
declared a free and independent State. Philip, 
however, still waged a vindictive war against 
them, while they received important aid from 
Elizabeth of England, a circumstance which led 
Philip to declare war against the latter country." 
— Willson's Out. Hist, 339-345. 

We have already seen that the period of the 
institution and establishment of dragonic or Ro- 
manized Christianity began in A. D. 313. It end- 
ed with the death of Constantiiie in A. D. 337, 
when the' Empire was divided between his three 
sons. And so the corresponding time, indicated 
by the "forty-two months," A. D. 1555-1579, is the 
period of the first plague upon the dominions of 
the dragon and beast, which produced the "afflic- 
tive and hurtful sore upon the men that had the 
mark of the beast (Papists), and that worshiped 
his image"(Monarchists). This passage alludes 



220 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

to the disastrous consequences to the Papal 
party, the eternal disgrace, loss of territory, power, 
and influence, resulting from the furious attempts 
of Philip of Spain and Charles of France to sup- 
press the Reformation in their dominions; for 
the fearful persecutions, massacres and wars in 
France, the Netherlands, and elsewhere, were far 
more injurious to the cause of Romanism than to 
that of Christianity. 

We will conclude this chapter with a paragraph 
of English history, as we find that the bigoted 
Philip of Spain was the husband of "Bloody 
Mary" of England. The Reformation had made 
rapid progress in England, but in A. D. 1553 the 
bigoted Mary ascended the throne, and in A. D. 
1554 the nation returned to the loving embrace 
of Popery, of wdiich "the news spread over Eu- 
rope with gladness and speed. The Pope cele- 
brated the second conversion of England to 
Christianity by a solemn procession, and ratified 
all the laws of the faithful legate. ... In 
January, A. D. 1555, a commission, headed by 
Gardiner, sat in Southwark, for the trial of Prot- 
estants. Of this tribunal the most eminent 
ecclesiastics and laics of the land became the un- 
happy victims. Rogers, who was first called to 
suffer, and who, on his way to Smithfield, met his 



THE FIEST PLAGUE. 221 

faithful and beloved wife with her ten children, 
one of whom lay at her breast, passed through 
the fire in the triumph of a living faith. Hooper, 
who was committed to the flames in his episcopal 
city, Gloucester, died with a fortitude becoming a 
man pervaded with the life of God. Sanders em- 
braced the stake with the exclamation— 'Welcome 
the cross of Christ ! welcome everlasting life !' 
Eidley and Latimer perished together in the 
same flames at Oxford ; and never will the words 
of Latimer to Eidley be forgotten :—' Be of good 
cheer, brother ; we shall this day kindle such a 
light in England as, I trust in God, shall never 
be extinguished.' The constancy and the courage 
of those who suffered were more than human. 
An invisible power sustained them, and the hope 
of glory inspired them. . . . This was in Eng- 
land. In other countries the work of destruc- 
tion was carried to an incredible extent. Tens of 
thousands were massacred and slain. Every- 
where Christendom was wet with the blood of 
the faithful."— Ferguson's Hist Eng., vol, 2, 103. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE SECOND PLAGUE. 



1579—1718. 



"Alas for the land and for the sea ! for the devil has come 
down to you with great anger, because he knows he has but a 
short time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast into 
the earth, he persecuted the woman that brought forth the male 
child. And two wings of a great eagle were given to the 
woman, that she might fly into the wilderness into her place, 
where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, 
away from the presence of the serpent." Rev. xii. 12-14. 

"And the second angel. poured out his cup on the sea ; and 
it became blood, like that of a dead man : and every soul in the 
sea died." Rev. xvi. 3. 

The second plague resulted from the continued 
efforts of the dragon to persecute the woman. 
The first plague was upon the land, causing loss 
of territory and severe affliction to "the men that- 
had the mark of the beast, and that worshiped 
his image." The second consisted of several des- 
perate naval engagements upon the literal sea, 
and of dire calamities upon the populous nations 
of continental Europe, which, according to Rev. 
xvii. 15, constitutes the figurative sea:— 'The 



THE SECOND PLAGUE. 223 

waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are 
peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.'' 
As this period is long from 1579 to 1718, we will 
introduce only a few of the many characteristic 
events. 

"From the death of Charles V., in the year 1558, 
to the year 1618, there were no events in German 
history that exercised any important influence on 
the politics of Europe. At the latter period, 
however, the German emperor, Matthias, suc- 
ceeded in procuring the subordinate crown of 
Bohemia for his cousin Ferdinand, a bigoted 
Catholic; a circumstance which increased the 
hostile feelings that had long existed between 
the Roman Catholic and Protestant parties in 
Bohemia ; but when Ferdinand banished the 
new faith from his dominion, and destroyed the 
Protestant churches, his impolitic conduct led to 
an open revolt of his Protestant subjects (A. D. 
1618). This was the commencement of a thirty 
years' war-\hs last conflict sustained by the 
Reformation — a war indeterminate in its objects, 
but one which, before its close, involved in its 
complicated relations nearly all the states of con- 
tinental Europe. ... In October, A. D. 1648, 
the treaty of Westphalia closed the sad scene of 
the long and sanguinary 'Thirty years' war.' 



224 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

Peace found the German States in a sadly de- 
pressed condition ; the scene that was everywhere 
presented was a wide waste of ruin : and two- 
thirds of the population had perished, although 
not so much by the sword as by contagion, plague, 
famine, and other attendant horrors that follow 
in the train of war." — Willson's Out. Hist, 355, 
861. 

Besides the countless numbers that perished 
by pestilence, famine and war in other places, 
200,000 died of the plague in Constantinople in 
A. D. 1611; 35,000 in London in A. D. 1625; 
600,000 in Lyons in A. D. 1626; and 68,000 in Lon- 
don in A. D. 1665. 

As we have seen that the first plague, that on 
the land, ended with the Union of Utrecht in A. 
D. 1579, so we shall find that the second plague, 
on the literal sea, immediately followed that 
event, and resulted from the assistance that u Good 
Queen Bess" of England gave to the infant Ke- 
public : "Philip, however, still waged a vindic- 
tive war against them, while they received im- 
portant aid from Elizabeth of England, a cir- 
cumstance which led Philip to declare war 
against the latter country. . . . The execution 
of the queen of Scots inflamed the resentment of 
the Catholics throughout Europe, and gave ad- 



THE SECOND PLAGUE. 225 

ditional vigor to the preparations of Philip II. 
for an invasion of England, a project which he 
had long in contemplation, and by which he 
hoped to destroy the power of the great supporter 
of the Protestant cause. With justice, perhaps, 
Philip complained of the depredations which the 
English, under their great admiral, Sir Francis 
Drake, had for many years committed on the 
Spanish possessions in South America, and more 
than once on the coast of Spain itself ; and now 
a vast armament was prepared to sweep the 
English from the seas, ravage their coasts, burn 
their towns, and dethrone their Protestant queen. 

In May, A. D. 1588, the Spanish fleet of one 
hundred and thirty ships, some the largest that 
had ever plowed the deep, carrying, exclusive of 
eight thousand sailors, no less than twenty 
thousand of the bravest troops of the Spanish 
armies, a large invading force in those days, sailed 
from the harbor of Lisbon for the English coast. 
The Pope had blessed the expedition, and offered 
the sovereignty of England as the conqueror's 
prize: and the Catholics throughout Europe 
were so confident of success that they had named 
the armament 'The Invincible Armada.' 

The queen of England beheld the preparations 
and heard the vauntings of her enemies with a 



226 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

resolution worthy of the occasion and the cause, 
She visited the seaports in person, superintended 
the preparations for defence, and on horseback 
addressed the troops ; and such was the enthusi- 
asm which she everywhere inspired, that even 
her Catholic subjects joined their countrymen, 
heart and hand, against foreign domination. 
Lord Howard of Effingham was appointed ad- 
miral of the fleet ; Drake, Hawkins, and Forto- 
sher, the most renowned seamen in Europe, 
served under him; while an army of forty-five 
thousand men was organized for the defence of 
the coast and the capital. 

After the Armada had sailed from Lisbon it 
suffered considerably from a storm off the French 
coast : in passing through the English channel 
it was seriously harrassed, during several days 
by the lighter English vessels ; and while at 
anchor off Calais the English sent a number of 
fire ships into the midst of the fleet, destroyed 
several vessels, and threw the others into such 
confusion that the Spanish admiral no longer 
thought of victory, but only of escape. As the 
south wind blew, he was unable to retrace his 
course, and therefore resolved to return by coast- 
ing the northern shores of Scotland and Ireland. 
"But his disasters were not ended : many of his 



THE SECOND PLAGUE. 227 

vessels were driven by storm on the coasts of 
Norway and Scotland : off the Irish coast a sec- 
ond storm was experienced, with almost equal 
loss ; and only a few shattered vessels of this ar- 
mament returned to Spa in, to bring intelligence 
of the calamities that had overwhelmed the rest. 
The defeat of the Armada was regarded as the 
triumph of the Protestant cause, it exerted a 
favorable influence on the welfare of the United 
Provinces, and virtually secured their indepen- 
dence ; and it raised the courage of the Hugue- 
nots in France, and completely destroyed the 
decisive influence which Spain had long main- 
tained in the affairs of Europe. Henceforth the 
naval power and the commerce of Spain declined; 
and the king, at his death in A. D. 1598, be- 
queathed a vast debt to a nation whose resources, 
notwithstanding her rich mines of gold and silver 
in the New World, were already exhausted. 
To complete the humiliation of Spain, eight years 
later, in the treaty of Munster, she was compelled 
to acknowledge the independence of Holland, 
after having maintained a warfare of eighty 
years' duration, only interrupted by a brief space 
of twelve years from A. D. 1609 to 1621 ; and even 
during this period, hostilities did not cease in the 
Indies. 



228 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

The disasters that were befalling Roman Cath- 
olic Spain were fast overwhelming that proud 
monarchy with disgrace and ruin, while the new 
Republic of Holland was taking its place, as a 
free and independent State, among the most 
powerful nations of Europe. The treaty of 
Westphalia, signed the same year (A. D. 1648\ 
secured to Holland internal tranquility, by recon- 
ciling the conflicting interests of her own people, 
and guaranteeing the enjoyment of civil and re- 
ligious liberty — one of the noble aims and results 
of Christian civilization. . . The treaty of 
Utrecht in A. D. 1713, which closed the* war of 
the Spanish succession, had given pacification to 
southern and western Europe, by defining the 
territorial limits of the belligerents in such a 
manner as to preserve that balance of power on 
which the peace of Europe depended. The intri- 
guing efforts of Spain in contravention of that 
portion of the treaty by which Philip V. re- 
nounced forever all right of succession to the 
crown of France, induced England and Holland, 
in A. D. 1717, to unite with France in forming a 
Triple Alliance guaranteeing the fulfilment of 
the treaty ; but during the same year a Spanish 
fleet, entering the Mediterranean, quickly re- 
duced the island of Sardinia, which had been as- 



THE SECOND PLAGUE. 229 

signed to Austria; and in the following year 
another fleet and army captured Sicily, which 
had been adjudged to the duke of Savoy. These 
acts of aggression roused the resentment of Aus- 
tria ; and by her accession to the terms of the 
Triple Alliance, the Quadruple Alliance was 
formed, for the purpose of putting a check to the 
ambition of Spain (A. D. 1718). A British squad- 
ron, under Admiral Byng, sailed into the Medi- 
terranean and destroyed the Spanish fleet, whilst 
an Austrian force passed into Sicily to contest 
with the Spanish army the sovereignty of that 
island. The successes of the allies soon compelled 
even Spain to accede to the terms of the Alliance 
for preserving the peace of Europe." — Willson's 
Out. Hist., 345, 392, 418. 

The Quadruple Alliance of A. D. 1718 which 
broke the power of the dragon (Spain), marks the 
termination of the second plague, hence we must 
again measure our work with the prophetic num- 
ber that applies to this time, the "forty-two 
months," or 1242 historical years; bearing in 
mind that we are now considering events which 
are the counterparts of those that facilitated the 
growth of the ten-horned beast, or the despotic 
monarchism of Europe ; that all European mon- 
archies, medieval and modern, Papistical and 



230 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

Protestant, have been, and are, toes of the image, 
horns of the beast, Dragonic, Constantinian, Ro- 
man, Antichristian ; that as the former events 
developed the power and extended the dominion 
of the Antichrist, so the latter must develop 
and extend "the salvation, and the power, and 
the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His 
Christ ;" and that as the former events brought 
upon the Woman, the true Church of Christ, 
bondage and oppression, so the latter must bring 
to her escape from thraldom, and the blessings of 
civil and religious liberty. 

"And two wings of a great eagle were given to 
the Woman, that she might fly into the wilder- 
ness, into her place, where she is nourished for a 
time, and times, and half a time, away from the 
presence of the serpent." Rev. xii. 14. 

We must now find the Woman, and follow her 
in her flight into the wilderness, and to aid us we 
will borrow additional light from Isaiah and 
Daniel : "And it shall come to pass in the last 
days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall 
be established in the top of the mountains, and 
shall be exalted above the hills ; and all nations 
shall flow unto it." Isa. ii. 2. u Thou sawest till 
that a stone was cutout without hands." "Foras- 
much as thou sawest that the stone was cut 



THE SECOND PLAGUE. 231 

out of the mountain without hands." Dan. ii. 34, 
45. 

These words of the prophets teach us : 1. That 
in the last days the mountain of the Lord's house, 
or Christianity, with its pure doctrines and just 
laws, shall be exalted and established above the 
hills and mountains, or the corrupt and oppres- 
sive systems of religion and government previous- 
ly existing. We have seen that the incipiency of 
this was in A. D. 1555. 

2. That out of this mountain, the revived 
Christianity of Europe, a stone, or fragment, 
should be cut or separated without the aid or au- 
thority of the political and ecclesiastical powers 
of Europe. 

This stone, and the Woman that flew into the 
wilderness, are doubtless the same. The stone 
could not be cut out or severed from the moun- 
tain, and the Woman could not be away from the 
presence of the serpent if they remained in Eu- 
rope, therefore they must go to some other coun- 
try. 

Surely it must be an extraordinary class of 
people, their moral character and religious faith 
of a high order, their influence upon the destiny 
of the world of tremendous importance, that 
Heaven has designated by the symbol of the wo- 



232 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

man that went "into her place" and by a stone 
that "became a great mountain, and filled the whole 
earthy "These men were called Puritam, of whom 
it is affirmed, that they recognized no title of su- 
periority but the divine favor ; and, confident of 
that favor, they despised all the accomplishments 
and all the dignities of the world. If they were 
unacquainted with the works of philosophers and 
of poets, they were deeply read in the oracles of 
God ; if their names were not found in the regis- 
ter of heralds, they felt assured that they were 
in the Book of Life ; if their steps were not at- 
tended by a splendid train of menials, legions of 
ministering spirits had charge over them. On 
the rich and the eloquent, on nobles and priests, 
they looked down with contempt ; for they es- 
teemed themselves rich in a more sublime lan- 
guage, nobles by the right of an earlier crea- 
tion, and priests by the imposition of a mightier 
hand." — Ferguson! s Hist Eng., vol. 2, 121. 

During the reign of Elizabeth, Protestantism 
was legalized in England, but the liberty of that 
age was as a galling yoke to the aspiring souls of 
the Puritans, who, in quest of greater freedom, 
in A. D. 1608, went over to Holland. But finding 
that even there they were still in the presence of 
the serpent, in A. D. 1620, they set sail in the 



THE SECOND PLAGUE. 233 

Mayflower from Plymouth, England, for the un- 
known wilderness of America. Impelled by the 
"two wings of a great eagle," civil and religious 
liberty, and aided by the outspread sails of the 
Mayflower, the Woman was wafted to her des- 
tined home— "the land of the free." 

Many unsuccessful attempts had been made to 
colonize what is now the United States, under 
charters from European monarchs. "And a pat- 
ent was obtained from the king for a new com- 
pany incorporated as the council established at 
Plymouth, in the county of Devon, for planting, 
ruling, ordering and governing New England in 
America. The first English settlement within 
its limits, however, was established without the 
hnoivledge of the corporation, and without the aid 
of King James, by the pilgrim fathers of New 
England, a body of Puritans (102 in number), who 
. . sailed from England Sept. 6, A. D. 1620, 
in the Mayflower, a vessel of 180 tons burden. 
They anchored first at Cape Cod (Nov. 6\ and on 
Dec. 11 (O. S.) an exploring party landed at a 
harbor in Massachusetts Bay, where the May- 
flower anchored a few days afterward. Here 
they began to build a town, which they called 
Plymouth in memory of the hospitalities received 
at the last English port from which they had 



234 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

sailed. The government was strictly republican. 
The governor was elected by the people, and re 
stricted by a council of five (afterward seven) as- 
sistants. The legislature at first comprised the 
whole body of the people, but as the population 
advanced, the representative system was adopted." 
—Am. Cyc, u United States" 

"A certain part of the English people, however, 
aspired to more complete liberty than a monarchy 
could afford them, and passed over the sea to se- 
cure freedom of conscience and political enfran- 
chisement in the New World. . . . Thus the 
English colonies became the escape valve of Eu- 
ropean politics and society, the Appendix of the 
Reformation, and the Hope of Liberty. . . . 
In A. D. 1620, the Puritans of England, persecu- 
ted for their religious views, sought liberty of 
worship in the New World, establishing a colony 
at Plymouth, in the eastern part of New Eng- 
land."— Footprints of Time, 144, 150. 

"Religious freedom must correspond with poli- 
tical liberty. The one cannot exist apart from 
the other. Set a man politically free, and he 
will soon learn to trample under foot every form 
and manifestation of spiritual despotism. . . . 
Thus Protestantism and civil liberty have min- 
istered to each other in all modern history. Thus 



THE SECOND PLAGUE. 235 

hand in hand, have they come down through 
ages of proscription and blood; — with shield to 
shield have they stood in the battle-fields of 
England, Scotland, Holland, and Germany; — 
over the ocean they were wafted by the same 
wing; — side by side have they grown beneath 
the pine and the holly, in the solitude of the 
New World." "If we look across the Atlantic, 
what a scene of interest stretches before us in 
the United States of America! There we see 
the Protestant faith living, and spreading, and 
exerting itself in manly strength. This is an- 
other fruit of the Reformation. The birth of 
Luther took place soon after the birth of Colum- 
bus; the reformer folloAved fast upon the dis- 
coverer. And when the great principles of the 
reformation had to struggle for a free and 
healthy existence in the Old World, Providence 
was preparing a field in the New World for their 
full and soul-stirring development. The Pilgrim 
Fathers, driven by the bitterness of persecution 
from their own country, sought an asylum for 
their families and their faith on the other side 
of the Atlantic, and there fulfilled one of the 
most glorious destinies in the history of man." — 
Ferguson's Hist. Eng. vol. 2, 111, 65. 
As before stated, the events of the plagues, by 



236 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

which the power of the ten-homed dragon is 
destroyed, correspond with the circumstances by 
which the system of European Monarchism be- 
came developed. We have already seen that 
Christianity became Romanized in A. D. 313, 
when Constantine usurped the throne of God by 
constituting himself the supreme head of the 
Christian Church, and that this event had its 
counterpart in the casting down from heaven of 
the Emperor Charles V. in A. D. 1555 (313 + 1242 
= 1555 \ and that the maturity of Imperial Chris- 
tianity, which occured in 337, when its founder, 
Constantine died, and his empire was divided by 
his three sons, had its counterpart in A. D. 1579 
(337 + 1242 = 1579), when the Union of Utrecht 
severed the fair provinces of the Netherlands 
from the empire of the dragon, Philip II. In 
the same year the first attempt to plant an Eng- 
lish colony in America was made by Sir Hum- 
phrey Gilbert. And as with the last named date 
the first plague ended and the second began, we 
must follow along the parallel lines of ancient 
and modern history to see if we have made a 
correct adaptation of prophecy to history respect- 
ing the dragon and the Woman during the period 
of the second plague; And we will test the 
matter by four coincidental measurements. 



THE SECOND PLAGUE. 237 

First. Julian the Apostate, the last of Con- 
stantine's dynasty, was dead, and in A. D. 364, 
Valentinian and Valens, "two new and obscure 
princes, who had been raised to the throne by a 
popular election," made a "solemn and final di- 
vision of the Roman empire" into Eastern and 
Western. From this time "the Goths who had 
contracted an hereditary attachment for the 
Imperial house of Constantine," but who des- 
pised the power of Valentinian and Valens de- 
termined upon the invasion and conquest of the 
Roman dominions. And, as a modern counter- 
part of this, in A. D. 1606 (364 -f 1242 = 1696) 
James I., King of England, determined upon the 
occupation of the Western continent, and estab- 
lish the London and Plymouth Companies for 
settling North America — thus in a sense divid- 
ing the English nation into Eastern and West- 
ern, and his realm into Old and New England. 
And from this event followed the successful 
colonization of the New World. 

Second. Roman resistence to barbarian in- 
vasion was generally successful until the year 
378, when in a desperate encounter near Hadria- 
nople, the Emperor Valens "was slain in battle, 
and two-thirds of the Roman army were exter- 
minated by the sword of the victorious Groths." 



THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

{Gibbon.) From this event historians elate those 
great migrations that overwhelmed the Roman 
empire, and established the ten horns, or ten 
barbarian monarchies, on the ruins thereof. On 
the other hand, the severe persecution of the 
Puritans, the most protestant of the Protestants, 
the most worthy children of the Woman, and 
whose was the highest type of Christianity then 
in Europe, continued until 1620 (378 + 1242 = 
1620), when the "stone (or fragment) was cut out 
of the mountain (Protestantism) without hands" 
(without a charter or assistance from King James, 
and without the aid or even the knowledge of 
the Plymouth Company), and the Woman flew 
"into the wilderness, into her place" which Provi- 
dence had reserved expressly for her. And 
with this event commenced the great migration 
to the New World and the growth of the stone 
that is destined to effect the entire demolition 
of the colossal fabrics of Monarchical and Papal 
despotism. 

Third. "The barbarians acquired, from the 
junction of some Pannonian deserters, the knowl- 
edge of the country and the roads, at length 
crossed the Rhine, and entered without opposi- 
tion the defenceless provinces of Gaul. This 
memorable passage of the Vandals, the Suevi, the 



THE SECOND PLAGUE. 239 

Alani and the Burgundians,who never afterward 
retreated, may be considered as the fall of the 
Roman empire in the countries beyond the Alps; 
and the barriers which had so long separated the 
savage and the civilized nations of the earth 
were from that fatal moment levelled with the 
ground. . . . That rich and extensive country, 
as far as the ocean, the Alps and the Pyrenees, 
was delivered to the barbarians, who destroyed 
the cities, ravaged the fields, and drove before 
them, in a promiscuous crowd, the bishop, the sen- 
ator and the virgin, laden with the spoils of their 
houses and altars (A. D. 406)." (Stu. Gibbon, 229). 
This great event, which introduced and estab- 
lished the barbarian nations (the horns of the 
beast) in the central and western portions of Eu- 
rope, destroyed the ancient civilization and 
Christianity, and instituted a state of civil and 
religious despotism that continued forty-two 
months, had its counterpart in the year 1648 (406 
-f 1242 = 1648), in "the Peace of Westphalia, 
which terminated the religious wars of Europe, 
and forms a grand landmark in its history," se- 
cured freedom of conscience to all, and excluded 
the dragon (Spain) from all interference with the 
affairs of Protestant Europe. 
Fourth. The last paragraph showed the re- 



240 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

lation. between the fall of the Roman empire in 
the countries beyond (or north of) the Alps, and 
the taking away of the tyrannical power of the 
monarchical horns of the Imperial beast in those 
countries. In this paragraph will be shown the 
relation between the overthrow of the Roman 
empire and the destruction of the power of its 
modern representative in the countries south of 
the Alps. The final extinction of the Roman em- 
pire in Italy was effected by "Odoacer, a bold 
barbarian, who assured his fellow-soldiers that, 
if they dared to associate under his command, 
they might soon extort the justice which had 
been denied to their dutiful petitions. From all 
the camps and garrisons of Italy the confederates 
impatiently flocked to the standard of this popu- 
lar leader ; and the unfortunate Orestes, over- 
whelmed by the torrent, hastily retreated to 
Pavia. The city was immediately besieged, the 
fortifications were stormed, and Orestes was 
slain. The helpless Augustulus, who could no 
longer command the respect, was induced to im- 
plore the clemency of Odoacer (A. D. 476). . . . 
The unfortunate Augustulus was made the in- 
strument of his own disgrace ; he signified his 
resignation to the senate." {Gibbon). Thus "the 
Western empire of the Romans was subverted : 



THE SECOND PLAGUE. 241 

Roman glory had passed away : Roman liberty 
existed only in the remembrance of the past : the 
rude warriors of Germany and Scythia possessed 
the city of Romulus ; and a barbarian occupied 
the palace of the Caesars." — Will. Out. Hist. 

The confideracy of several allies in A. D. 476 
to overthrow the Roman Imperial power, had its 
exact counterpart in "the Quadruple Alliance of 
England, France, Germany and Holland, against 
the designs of Spain" in A. D. 1718 (476 + 1242 = 
1718) already mentioned in this chapter ; and as 
"the unfortunate Augustulus was made the in- 
strument of his own disgrace— he signified his 
own resignation to the senate," and thus second- 
ed and accomplished the designs of his success- 
ful enemies, so "the success of the allies soon 
compelled even Spain to accede to the terms 
of the Alliance for preserving the peace of Eu- 
rope." 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE THIRD PLAGUE. 



1718—1776. 



"And the serpent threw out of his mouth water like a river, 
after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away 
by the river. And the earth helped the woman ; and the earth 
opened her mouth, and swallowed up the river that the dragon 
threw out of his mouth." Rev. xii. 15,16. 

"And the third angel poured out his cup on the rivers and 
the fountains of waters ; and they became blood. And I heard 
the angel of the waters, saying : Just art thou, who art and 
who wast, the Holy One, because thou hast thus judged. For 
they have shed the blood of saints and of prophets, and thou 
hast given them blood to drink, and they are worthy. And I 
heard a voice from the altar saying : Even so, Lord God Al- 
mighty, true and just art thy judgments." Rev. xvi. 4-7. 

The third plague, like the second, affects the 
waters, — the "peoples and multitudes and nations 
and tongues" "where the harlot sits" (Rev. xvii. 
15). The second was upon the figurative sea, or 
the nations of continental Europe, while the 
third is upon the fountains— the English, French, 
Spanish and the Dutch, and the rivers of people, 
which, issuing from these fountains, had flown 
off to colonize other lands. Hence this plague is 



THE THIRD PLAGUE. 243 

to be upon the mother countries and their colo- 
nies. The passage from Eev. xii. shows that after 
the Puritans came to America the clragonic na- 
tions of Europe would send out numerous colo- 
nies adverse to the principles of religious and 
political freedom, and that their mission would 
not only be unsuccessful, but that they would 
finally be "swallowed up," or become incorpo- 
rated into the dominions of the United States. 
Hence the third plague will consist of a series of 
wars among the nations of Europe respecting 
their American possessions, and as a final result 
all the Papistical colonies planted on this conti- 
nent since the Puritans came here, will be incor- 
porated into the grand domain of Liberty. 

Following the Quadruple Alliance, with which 
our last chapter ended, there was twenty years 
of comparative tranquility in Europe. "In A. D. 
1739, however, the general peace was interrupted 
by a war between England and Spain, growing 
out of the commercial and colonial difficulties of 
the two nations. For a long time Spain, claim- 
ing the right of sovereignty over the seas adjacent 
to her American possessions, which had been 
confirmed by successive treaties, had distressed 
and insuted the commerce of Great Britain by 
illegal seizures made under the pretext of the 



244 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

right of search for contraband goods; while 
Britain, on the other hand, secretly encouraged 
a contraband traffic, little to her honor, and 
deeply injurious to Spain. War was first declared 
by England : the vessels of each nation in the 
ports of the other were confiscated ; and power- 
ful armaments were fitted out by the one to seize, 
and by the other to defend, the Spanish American 
possessions, while pirates from Biscay harrassed 
the home trade of England. . . . During the 
year 1745 the important French fortress of Louis- 
burg, on the Island of Cape Breton, was captured 
by the British and their colonial allies, an event 
which revived the spirits of the English, and 
roused France to a great vindictive effort for the 
recovery of Louisburg, and the devastation of 
the whole American coast from Nova Scotia to 
Georgia. Accordingly a powerful naval arma- 
ment was sent to America in A. D. 1746 ; but it 
was so enfeebled by storms and shipwrecks, and 
dispirited by the loss of its commander, that 
nothing was accomplished by it. During the 
years 1746 and 1747 hostilities were carried on 
with various success by the French and Spaniards 
on one side, and the English, Dutch and Aus- 
trians on the other. By sea the French lost al- 
most their last ship ; but no important naval 



THE THIRD PLAGUE. 245 

battles were fought, as trie English navy had 
scarcely a rival. . . . Immediately after the 
peace of Aix-la-Chapelle difficulties arose between 
France and England respecting their colonial 
possessions in India. . . . More serious causes 
of quarrel arose in North America. The French 
possessed Canada and Louisi ana, one commanding 
the mouth of the St. Lawrence, the other that of 
the Mississippi, while the intervening territory 
was occupied by the English colonists. . . 
The French made settlements at the head of the 
Bay of Fundy, in Nova Scotia, claiming the terri- 
tory as a part of New Brunswick ; while by ex- 
tending a frontier line of posts along the Ohio 
river they aimed at confining the British colonies 
to the Atlantic coast and cutting them off from 
the rest of the continent. 

In A. D. 1754 the English colonial authorities 
began hostilities on the Ohio, without waiting 
for the formality of a declaration of war : in the 
following year the French forts at the head of 
the Bay of Fundy were reduced by Colonel 
Monckton ; but the English general, Braddock, 
who was sent against Fort Du Quesne, on the 
Ohio, was defeated with a heavy loss, and his 
army was saved from total destruction only by 
the courage and conduct of Major Washington, 



246 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

who commanded the provincial troops. These 
colonial difficulties were the prominent causes of 
enmity between France and England. . . It 
was not till the month of May and June A. D. 
1756, that England and France issued their dec- 
laration of war against each other, although 
hostilities had for some time previously been car- 
ried on between their colonies. France com- 
menced the war by an expedition against the 
island of Minorca, then in possession of the Eng- 
lish. ... In the mean time the war had been 
carried on in other quarters between the French 
and the English. In India the French were gen- 
erally successful, as they not only preserved their 
possessions, but wrested several fortresses from 
their rivals, but they were deprived of all their 
settlements on the coast of Africa, while in North 
America they abandoned Fort 1 )u Quesne to the 
English, and were obliged to surrender the im- 
portant fortress of Louisburg, after a vigorous 
siege conducted by generals Amherst and Wolfe. 
. . . On the ocean and in the colonies the re- 
sults of the year 1759 were highly favorable to 
the English. The French fleets were destroyed ; 
the English gained a decided preponderance 
in India ; while the conquest of Canada was 
achieved by the gallant Wolfe, who fell in the 



THE THIRD PLAGUE. 247 

moment of victory before the walls of Quebec. 
. . . During the year 1760 France and Spain 
formed an intimate alliance, known by the name 
of the Family Compact, by which the enemy of 
either was to be considered the enemy of both, 
and neither was to make peace without consent 
of the other. This was an unfortunate act for 
Spain, whose colonies of Cuba and Manilla, with 
her ships of war and commerce soon fell into the 
hands of England. The English were also suc- 
cessful against the French ; and the latter, be- 
fore the close of the war were divested of all 
their possessions in the East Indies, while Belle- 
isle, on the very coast of France, was captured, 
and in the West Indies, Martinico, Guadaloupe, 
and other islands, were added to the list of British 
conquests. 

In November, A. D. 1762, the preliminary arti- 
cles of peace were signed at Paris between Eng- 
land, France and Spain, while Prussia and 
Austria, deserted by their allies, were left to con- 
tinue the war ; but they also soon agreed to sus- 
pend hostilities, and in the month of February, 
A. D. 1763, peace was concluded between all the 
belligerents. France ceded to England, Canada 
and Cape Breton, while Spain purchased the res- 
toration of the conquests which had been made 



248 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

from her, by the cession of Florida to England, 
by giving the latter permission to cut logwood in 
the bay of Honduras, and by a renunciation of 
all claim to the Newfoundland fisheries. But im- 
portant as these results were to England, they 
were so much less advantageous than her posi- 
tion might have commanded, that it was said of 
her, 'she made war like a lion, and peace like a 
lamb.'"— Willsorts Out. Hist, 418-433. 

The prayer of the Rome-pagan martyrs for 
judgment and vengeance upon their murderers 
(Rev. vi. 9-11) has now been answered in the pun- 
ishment inflicted upon the Romanists by the 
first, second and third plagues; and the justice 
of their chastisement is universally acknowledged 
— by the living saints, and by those lying under 
the altar of sacrifice : "And I heard the angel of 
the waters, saying : Just art Thou, who art, and 
who wast, the Holy One, because Thou hast thus 
judged. For they have shed the blood of saints 
and of prophets, and Thou hast given them blood 
to drink, and they are worthy. And I heard the 
voice from the altar saying : Even so, Lord God 
Almighty, true and just are Thy judgments." 

The time of the third plague corresponds with 
that of the third trumpet, during which the Bar- 
barian "rivers," the Heruli, Goths, etc., had pos- 



THE THIED PLAGUE. 249 

ession of Italy. The former period commenced 
in A. D. 476, by the overthrow of the Empire of 
the West by the Barbarian Alliance, headed by 
the Hernli, and ended in A. D. 534 Avith the de- 
claration of Belisarius of his purpose "to deprive 
the Goths of all the provinces which they unjust- 
ly withheld from their lawful sovereign," Justin- 
ian ; and the latter period began in A. D. 1718 
(476 + 1242 = 1718), with the overthrow of the 
dragon, Spain, by the Quadruple Alliance, head- 
ed by the English, and it terminated in 1776 (534 
+ 1242 = 1776), with the Declaration (of Inde- 
pendence) of Benjamin Franklin and others of 
their purpose to deprive the British of all the 
provinces which they unjustly withheld from 
their lawful owners, the American people. 

In the foregoing chapters we have- traced the 
true Church of Christ in her retirement to the 
Alpine solitudes to preserve the pure faith of the 
Gospel during the fearful night of the Dark Ages. 
"The Waldenses are the middle link, which con- 
nects the primitive Christians and Fathers with 
the reformed; and, by this means, the proof is 
completely established that salvation, by the 
grace of Christ, felt in the heart, and expressed 
in the life, by the power of the Holy Ghost, has 
ever existed from the time of the Apostles till 



250 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

this day, and distinct from all that religion of 
mere form or convenience, or of human inven- 
tion, which calls itself Christian, but wants 
the spirit of Christ."— Hist Oh. Christ, vol. 3. 374. 

And we have seen that after the Reformation, 
on being again persecuted by the Dragon, Popery, 
and Prelacy, the Woman retired to the wilder- 
ness of America, leaving "the rest of her children" 
in Europe. Through severe oppression by the 
frowning State Churches, the baneful influence 
of infidelity, which is the legitimate offspring of 
corrupt and oppressive forms of religion, and by 
contact and contests with the wild nature and 
wilder men in the New World, the poor Woman 
had become reduced to a mere skeleton of her 
proper self ; and had not the Alwise made pro 
vision for supplying new vitality to her shriveled 
form, with her the hope of the world would have 
perished ; and the stone that "was cut out of the 
mountain without hands" could never demolish 
Nebuchadnezzar's monarchical image, and "be- 
come a great mountain and fill the whole 
earth." But through the good providence of Him 
who promised that the gates of hell should never 
prevail against His Church, the needed re-en- 
forcement came at the proper time. 

The new life came from the Moravians, whose 



THE THIED PLAGUE. 251 

"preparatory history extends back as far as the 
ninth century, when Christianity was introduced 
into Bohemia and Moravia by Cyril and Metho- 
dius, who gave the people a Slavic version of the 
Bible, and built up a national church. Hence 
for several centuries the people of Bohemia and 
Moravia manifested the spirit of what was after- 
ward Protestantism, holding fast to ecclesiastical 
principles opposed to the injunctions of the Ro- 
man Catholic Church, and submitting to the 
Bible as the only rule of faith and practice." — 
Am. Cyc, "Moravians? 

Methodius was made a bishop, and appointed 
the metropolitan cf Moravia, and the Moravians, 
who read the Scriptures and worshiped God in 
their mother tongue (not in the language of 
Rome), and "kept the commandments of God and 
held the testimony of Jesus," are the link that 
connects the ancient with the modern Metho- 
dists. For it was from the Moravians that John 
and Charles Wesley and George Whitfield 
learned the glorious truth that salvation is to be 
obtained by faith in the precious blood of Christ, 
and not by the works of the law and the perform- 
ance of the ritualistic ceremonies of state 
churches. 

On the ship that took the Wesleys to Georgia, 



252 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

as missionaries, were some Moravian immigrants, 
whose simple faith and trust in God, and joyful 
serenity in prospect of shipwreck and a watery 
grave, surprised the missionaries, and convinced 
them that the humble German peasants were 
rich in a faith and hope, of which they, with all 
their learning, were ignorant. On their return 
from Georgia, the Wesleys became acquainted 
with Peter Bohler, a young Moravian missionary, 
who, on his way to America, had stopped in 
London to learn the English language ; and by 
him they were pointed to "the Lamb of God that 
takes away the sin of the world." "John Wesley 
hastened, after his conversion, to the continent, 
to consult with the Moravians, whose English 
representatives had thus far been his best guides. 
He conversed with Count Zinzendorff and other 
leaders of the United Brethren, and returned to 
England confirmed in his faith, and the now 
single purpose of his life." From this time the 
two Wesleys, and Whitfield, who had obtained 
the same precious faith, preached to listening 
thousands a full and free salvation ; the slumber- 
ing churches of Britain and America awoke to a 
new life ; a second reformation was affected ; and 
from this originated the many Missionary and 
Bible societies "having the eternal Gospel to 



THE THIRD PLAGUE. 253 

preach to those who dwell on the earth, even to 
every nation and tribe and tongue and people." 
Rev. xiv. 6. 

In his excellent history of England, Dr. Fergu- 
son alludes to the great Methodistic reformation 
thus : "Churchism was substituted for an evan- 
gelical faith and life. Formalism took the place 
of an active, self-denying, and spirit-striving 
Christianity. The pulpits of the Establishment 
were filled by men the majority of whom were 
strangers to the life of God, and whose inner 
man had no sympathy with the truths which 
they were called upon to teach and inculcate. 
The nonconformists, still subject to civil pains 
and penalties, had but few opportunities of dif- 
fusing the principles and doctrines of the Gospel 
beyond their own limited circle, and even among 
them the spirit of lukewarmness and inactivity 
was but too general. The spirit of the people 
was lulled into sleep. It was the sleep of spirit- 
ual death. Nothing could again awake that 
spirit but the Omnipotence of life. This mighty 
power came down upon England — and England 
awoke to life. . . , Whitfield and Wesley, 
whose names are associated with one of the most 
remarkable revivals of religion in the history of 
England, breaking loose from the restraints im- 



254 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

posed upon the priesthood of the national church, 
and putting on the character of itinerant preach- 
ers, travelled over England, Wales, Scotland, and 
Ireland, and even to America, to proclaim the 
sublime and saving doctrines of the Cross. . . . 
Thus it was with Whitfield and with Wesley, 
who, with seraphic love and ardor, did spend 
themselves in the cause of human good. Their 
preaching fell upon the hearts of the people with 
all the freshness and the force of inspiration. 
Mind awoke from its slumbers. Religion was 
acknowledged to be possessed of paramount 
claims and importance. The breath of life passed 
over the Church and over the land. A new state 
of things rose into view. It was as if a second 
reformation had been effected, and something 
more. It was an era in the religious life of Eng- 
land, whose influence can be known only by the 
progressive and ever-multiplying evolutions of 
time. . . . The great founders of Methodism 
left results on the national character which will 
terminate only with the existence of the nation 
itself."— Vol. 4, 103-5. 

As in England, so in America. And thus it 
was that the reserve forces of divine light, life 
and fire were transferred from the Moravian con- 
servatory at Herrnlmt, in Saxony, to the more 



THE THIRD PLAGUE. 255 

fertile soil of England and America, and {lie 
emaciated Woman, "the Bride, the Lamb's wife," 
became so vitalized and invigorated as to be able 
to fulfil her glorious destiny on the earth, before 
she ascends to meet her Bridegroom in the 
heavens. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE FOUETH PLAGUE. 



1776—1815. 



"Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out (of the mountain) 
without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were 
of iron and clay, and broke them to pieces." Dan. ii, 34. 

"And the fourth angel poured out his cup on the sun ; and it 
was given to him to scorch men with fire. And men were 
scorched with great heat; and they uttered impious words 
against the name of God who had power over these plagues ; 
and they repented not, that they might give him glory " Kev. 
xvi. 8, 9. 

The above scripture indicates, (a), a terrible 
calamity to be inflicted upon some nation called 
the sun ; which, (b), after being itself scorched 
should terribly scorch other men or nations ; (c), 
the prevalence, during these awful times, of a 
fearful amount of wickedness, atheism, and 
blasphemous or impious expressions, against the 
God of heaven ; (d), that these scorching calami- 
ties would not lead the people to repentance or 
reformation ; and (e), that (according to our un- 
derstanding of the stone nation) the cause of 
the trouble would originate in America, and 



THE FOUKTH PLAGUE. 257 

seriously affect one or more of the ten toes, or 
monarchical nations of Europe, consisting of the 
incoherent elements of iron, or Roman despotism, 
and clay, or modern democracy. 

This plague commenced in the year 1776, and 
the following clause of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence which is but a modern expression of 
the doctrine of Christ, — "All ye are brethren," 
was the stone of mountain weight, that then 
began to roll, and shake the tyrants from their 
thrones: "We hold these truths to be self- 
evident, that all men are created equal; that 
they are endowed by their Creator with certain 
inalienable rights; that among these are life, 
liberty and the pursuit of happiness." 

We conclude that the nation signified by the 
sun is France, and that the agent employed in 
scorching others was Napoleon Bonaparte, be- 
cause, 

1. Prophecy shows that when the old sun, the 
great dragon Charles V. was cast down in A. D. 
1555, his "place was found no more in heaven;" 
and, accordingly, history states that "so offended 
was the Pope at the sanction which Charles had 
given to the principles of religious toleration, 
that he became the avowed enemy of the house 
of Austria, and entered into a close alliance 



258 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

with the young king of France." Hence, as in- 
dicated by prophecy, and proved by history, 
France was thus constituted the sun of the Papal 
world. 

2. Hereafter France was the most ponderous 
and brilliant monarchy of Papal Europe. 

3. Louis XIV. of France took the sun for his 
emblem. 

4. Chronologically, the French Revolution 
which succeeded the period of the colonial wars 
described in the last chapter, resulted from the 
Declaration of Independence, and its events ex- 
actly correspond with the above prophecy, as 
will presently be shown by quotations from his- 
tory, and, 

5. The period, 1776—1815, corresponds with the 
time during which the old Roman sun, moon, 
and stars were darkened, as will be indicated 
further on. 

During the Revolutionary war that followed 
the Declaration of Independence, "France and 
Spain, arbitrary despots of the Old World, had 
stood forth as the protectors of an infant repub- 
lic, and had combined, contrary to all the prin- 
ciples of their political faith, to establish the 
rising liberties of America. They seemed but 
as blind instruments in the hands of Providence, 



THE FOURTH PLAGUE. 259 

employed to aid in the dissemination of those 
republican virtues that are destined to overthrow 
every system of political oppression throughout 
the world. The democratic spirit which had 
called forth the war between England and her 
American colonies, and which the princes of 
continental Europe had encouraged and fostered, 
through jealousy of the power of England, to 
the final result of American independence, was 
destined to exert a much wider influence than 
the royal allies of the infant Republic had ever 
dreamed of. Borne back to France by those 
of her chivalrous sons Avho, in aiding an op- 
pressed people, had imbibed their principles, it 
entered into the causes which were already at 
work there in breaking up the foundations of 
the rotten frame-work of French society, and 
contributed greatly to hurry forward the tre- 
mendous crisis of the French Revolution. 

At the time of the death of Loius XV., in A. 
D. 1774, the lower orders of the French people 
had been brought to a state of extreme indigence 
and suffering, by the luxuries of a dissolute and 
despotic court, during a long period of misrule, 
in which agriculture was sadly neglected, and 
trade, commerce, and manufacturies, existed but 
in an infant and undeveloped state. The nobil- 



260 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

ity had been, for a long time, losing their power 
and their wealth, by the gradual elevation of 
the middling classes; and the clergy had lost 
much of their influence by the rise of philo- 
sophical investigation, which was not only at- 
tended by an extraordinary degree of freedom 
of thought, but was strongly tinctured also with 
infidelity. 

To find a remedy for the disordered state of the 
French finances, and the decline of public credit, 
was the first difficulty which Louis had to en- 
counter ; nor did he surmount it until he found 
himself involved in the vortex of a revolution. 
. . . When it was known that the great assem- 
bly of the nation was to be convened, a universal 
ferment seized the public mind. Social reforms, 
extending to a complete reorganization of society, 
became the order of the day : political pamphlets 
inundated the country ; politics were discussed 
in every society ; theories accumulated upon 
theories ; and in the ardor with which they were 
combated and defended were already to be seen 
the seeds of those dissensions which afterward 
deluged the country with blood. There was 
abundance of evil to be complained of, and it was 
evident that exclusive privileges, and marked 
divisions of classes must be broken down. The 



THE FOURTH PLAGUE. 261 

clergy held one-third of the lands of the king- 
dom, the nobility another third ; yet the remain- 
ing third was burdened with all the expenses of 
government. This was more than could be borne; 
yet the clergy, the nobility, and the magistracy, 
obstinately refused the surrender of their exclu- 
sive privileges, while, on the other hand, the 
philosophic party, considering the federal repub- 
lic of America as a model of government desired 
to break up the entire framework of French so- 
ciety, and construct the edifice anew. 

Louis, greatly alarmed, now abandoned the 
counsels of the party of the nobles, who had ad- 
vised him to suppress the threatened revolution 
at the head of his army, and hurrying to the 
National Assembly, craved its support and inter- 
ference to restore order to the capital. At the 
same time he caused the regular troops to be 
withdrawn from Paris, while the defence of the 
place was intrusted to a body of civil militia, 
called the National Guards, and placed under 
the command of La Fayette, whose liberal senti- 
ments, and generous devotion to the cause of 
American liberty had made him the idol of the 
populace. . . . The consequences of the insur- 
rection of the 14th of July extended throughout 
France ; the peasantry of the provinces, imita- 



262 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

ting tlie lower orders of the capital in a crusade 
against the privileged classes, everywhere pos- 
sessed themselves of arms ; the regiments of the 
line declared for the popular side ; many of the 
chateaux of the nobles were burned, and their 
possessors massacred or expelled, and in a fort- 
night there was no authority in France but what 
emanated from the people. 

These things produced their effect upon the 
National Assembly. The deputies of the privi- 
leged classes, seeing no escape from ruin but in 
abandonment of those immunities which had 
rendered them odious, consented to sacrifice the 
whole ; the clergy followed the example, and in 
one evening's session the aristocracy and the 
Church descended to the level of the peasantry ; 
the privileged classes were swept away, and the 
political condition of France was changed (Aug. 
4th, A. D. 1789). In the mean time the training, 
dividing, forming and marshaling of parties went 
on. At first La Fayette and those who aided 
him— the moderate friends of liberty— prevailed 
in the Assembly, satisfied with constitutional 
reforms, without desiring to overthrow the mon- 
archy. But there was another class— the ultra 
revolutionists— composed of the factious spirits 
of the Assembly, who afterwards obtained the 



THE FOURTH PLAGUE. 263 

control of that body. Having organized them- 
selves into a club called the club of the Jacobins, 
from the name of the convent in which they as- 
sembled, and gathering members from all classes 
of society, they held their nightly sittings, where, 
surrounded by a crowd of the populace, they can- 
vassed the acts of the Assembly and formed 
public opinion. At one time this club contained 
more than two thousand iive hundred members, 
and corresponded with more than four hundred 
affiliated societies throughout France. It was 
the hotbed of sedition, and the centralization of 
anarchy, and it eventually overturned the gov- 
ernment, and sent forth the sanguinary despots 
who established the Reign of Terror. 

While the machinations of the Jacobins were 
convulsing France, the repose of Europe was 
threatened by the injudicious movement of the 
emigrant nobility, large numbers of whom (esti- 
mated at seventy thousand), disgusted with the 
Revolution, had abandoned their country, re- 
solved to seek the restoration of the old govern- 
ment by the intervention of foreign powers. . . . 
The constitutionalists would have preserved the 
throne, while they stripped it of its power ; but 
the Girondists, enthusiastic admirers of the Am- 
ericans, despising the vain shadow of royalty, 



264 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

longed for republican institutions on the model 
of antiquity. 

One step further was necessary to complete the 
Revolution, and that was the death of the kind- 
hearted and unfortunate monarch. On the ri- 
diculous charge of having engaged in a conspi- 
racy for the subversion of freedom, on the 26th 
of December Louis XVI. was brought before the 
Convention, and, after a trial which lasted twenty 
days, was declared guilty, and condemned to 
death by a majority of twenty-six votes out of 
seven hundred and twenty-one. Nearly all of 
those who had voted for his death subsequently 
perished on the scaffold, during the sanguinary 
'reign of terror,' which scon followed. On the 
21st of January, A. D. 1793, Louis was led out to 
execution. He met death with magnanimity and 
firmness, amid the insults of his cruel execution- 
ers. . . . Revolutionary committees, radiating 
from the central Jacobin power in Paris, extend- 
ed their net-work over the whole kingdom ; and 
these committees, having the power of arresting 
the obnoxious and the suspected, and numbering 
more than five hundred thousand individuals, 
often drawn from the very dregs of society, held 
the fortunes and lives of every man in France at 
their disposal. The prisons throughout France 



THE FOURTH PLAGUE. 265 

were speedily filled with victims ; forced loans 
were exacted with rigor ; terror was made the 
order of the day ; and the guillotine was put in 
requisition to do its work of death. The queen 
was brought to the scaffold, and the dauphin, 
thrown into prison, ere long fell a victim to the 
barbarous neglect of his keepers. Irreligion and 
impiety raised their heads above the mass of pol- 
lution and crime ; the Sabbath was abolished by 
law ; the sepulchres of the kings of France were 
ordered to be destroyed, that every memorial of 
royalty might be blotted out ; and the leaders of 
the municipality of Paris, in the madness of 
atheism, publicly expressed their determination 
'to dethrone the 'King of Heaven, as well as the 
monarchs of the earth.' As the crowning act of 
this drama of wickedness, the Goddess of Keason, 
personified by a beautiful female, was introduced 
into the Convention, and declared to be the only 
divinity worthy of adoration : — the churches were 
closed — religion everywhere abandoned — and on 
all the public cemeteries was placed the inscrip- 
tion : 'Death is an Eternal Sleep.' 

The death of Louis XVI., which derives its 
chief importance from the principle which the 
revolutionists thereby proclaimed, excited pro- 
found terror in France, and feelings of astonish- 



266 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

merit and indignation throughout Europe. 
France thereby placed herself in avowed and 
unrelenting hostility to the established govern- 
ments of the neighboring States ; and it was uni- 
versally felt that the period had now arrived 
when she must conquer the coalition of thrones, 
or perish under its blows. The Convention did 
not wait to be attacked, but forthwith, on vari- 
ous pretexts, declared war against England, Spain 
and Holland, and ordered the increase of the 
armies of the republic to more than five hundred 
thousand men. . . . Thus terminated the mem- 
orable campaign of A. D. 1793. In the midst of 
internal dissensions and civil war, while France 
was drenched with the blood of her own citizens, 
and the world stood aghast at the atrocities of 
her 'Reign of Terror,' the national councils had 
shown uncommon military talent and unbound- 
ed energy. The invasion, on the north, had been 
defeated; the Prussians had been driven back 
from the Rhine ; the Spaniards had re-crossed 
the Pyrenees; the English had retired from 
Toulon ; and the revolt of La Vendee had been 
extinguished; while an enthusiastic army of 
more than a million of men stood ready to en- 
force and defend the principles of the lie volution 
against all the crowned heads of Europe. 



THE FOURTH PLAGUE. 267 

Thus terminated that Reign of Terror, which, 
under the cloak of Republican virtue, had not 
only overturned the throne and the altar, and 
driven the nobles of France into exile, and her 
priests into captivity, but -which had also shed 
the blood of more than a million of her best citi- 
zens. . . . In a few hours tranquility was re- 
stored ; and this was the last insurrection of the 
people in the French Revolution. The new gov- 
ernment being established, the Convention, Avhich 
had passed through so many stormy scenes, and 
had experienced so great changes in sentiment, 
determined to finish its career by a signal act of 
clemency, and after having abolished the pun- 
ishment of death ; and published a general am- 
nesty, it declared its mission of consolidating the 
Republic accomplished, and its session closed. 
(Oct. 26th, A. D. 1795). 

In the Spring of A. D. 1796 the French Direc- 
tory sent three armies into the field ; that of the 
Sambre and Meuse, under Jourdan, numbering 
seventy thousand men : that of the Rhine and 
Moselle, under Moreau, numbering seventy-five 
thousand ; and the army of Italy under Bona- 
parte, numbering forty- two thousand. . . . The 
operations of the army of Bonaparte in Italy 
were more eventful. Although opposed by greatly 



268 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

superior forces, the indefatigable energy and ex- 
traordinary military talents of the youthful gen- 
eral crowned the cam paign with a series of bril- 
liant victories, almost unparalleled in the annals 
of war. Napoleon, on assuming the command, 
found his army in an almost destitute condition, 
maintaining a doubtful contest on the mountain 
ridges of the Italian frontier. Rapidly forcing his 
way into the fertile plains of the interior, he soon 
compelled the king of Sardinia to purchase a dis- 
honorable peace, subdued Piedmont, conquered 
Lombardy, humbled all the Italian States, and 
defeated and almost destroyed four powerful 
armies which Austria sent against him. 

The 'Grand Army' assembled in Poland for 
the Russian war amounted to the immense aggre- 
gate of more than five hundred thousand men, 
of whom eighty thousand were cavalry — the 
whole supported by thirteen hundred pieces of 
cannon. Nearly twenty thousand chariots or 
carts, of all descriptions, followed the army, while 
the whole number of horses amounted to one 
hundred and eighty-seven thousand. To oppose 
this vast army the Russians had collected, at the 
beginning of the contest, nearly three hundred 
thousand men ; but as the war was carried into 
the interior their forces increased in numbers 



THE FOURTH PLAGUE. 259 

until the armies on both sides were nearly equal. 
.... Still Napoleon pressed onward in sev- 
eral divisions, frequently skirmishing with the 
enemy, and driving them before him, until he 
arrived under the fortified walls of Smolensko, 
where thirty-thousand Russians made a stand to 
oppose him. A hundred and fifty cannon were 
brought up to batter the walls, but without effect, 
for the thickness of the ramparts defied the 
efforts of the artillery. But the French howit- 
zers set fire to some houses near the ramparts ; 
the flames spread with wonderful rapidity, and 
during the night which followed the battle a 
lurid light from the burning city was cast over 
the French bivouacs, grouped in dense masses 
for several miles in circumference. . . . When 
the retreating forces had reached the small vil- 
lage of Borodino, their commander, General But- 
usoff , resolved to risk a battle, in the hope of sav- 
ing Moscow. On the evening of the 6th of Sep- 
tember the two vast armies took their positions 
facing each other, — each numbering more than a 
hundred and thirty thousand men— the Russians 
having six hundred and forty pieces of cannon, 
and the French five hundred and ninety. . . . 
At six o'clock on the morning of the 7th a gun 
fired from the French lines announced the com- 



270 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

mencement of the battle ; the roar of more than 
a thousand cannon shook the earth : vast clouds 
of smoke, shutting out the light of the sun, arose 
in awful sublimity over 1h 3 scene ; and two hun- 
dred and sixty thousand combatants, led on in 
the gathering gloom by the light of the cannon 
and musketry, engaged in the work of death. 
The battle raged with desolating fury until night 
put an end to its horrors. The slaughter was 
immense. The loss on both sides was nearly 
equal, amounting in the aggregate to ninety 
thousand killed and wounded. The Russian po- 
sition w r as eventually carried, but neither side 
gained a decisive victory. On the day after the 
battle the Russians retired, in perfect order, on 
the great road to Moscow. Preparations were 
immediately made by the inhabitants for aban- 
doning that city, long revered as the cradle of 
the empire. ... At midnight on the night of 
the 15th a vast light was seen to illuminate the 
most distant part of the city ; fires broke out in 
all directions ; and Moscow soon exhibited a vast 
ocean of flame agitated by the wind. Nine-tenths 
of the city weve consumed, and Napoleon was 
driven to seek a temporary refuge for his army 
in the country ; but afterward returning to the 
Kremlin, which had escaped the ravages of the 



THE FOURTH PLAGUE. 271 

fire, lie remained there until the 19th of October, 
when, all his proposals of peace being rejected, 
he was compelled to order a retreat. The horrors 
of that retreat, which, during fifty-five days that 
intervened until the recrossing of the Memen, 
was almost one continued battle, exceeding any- 
thing before known in the annals of war." Be- 
sides the immense loss of the Russians and their 
allies, "It has been estimated that in this famous 
Russian campaign, one hundred and twenty-five 
thousand men of the army of Napoleon perished 
in battle ; that one hundred and thirty-two 
thousand died of fatigue, hunger, and cold : and 
that nearly two hundred thousand were taken 
prisoners. . . .In vain Napoleon now at- 
tempted to open negotiations with the allied 
powers, and prof essed an ardent desire for peace; 
the allies denounced him as the common enemy 
of Europe, and refused to recognize his authority 
as emperor of the French people. All Europe 
was now in arms against the usurper. . . . On 
the 16th of June, A. D. 1815, he defeated the 
Prussians under Blucher, at Ligny, but at the 
same time Ney was defeated by Wellington at 
Quatre Bras. The defeat of the Prussians in- 
duced Wellington to fall back upon Waterloo, 
where, at eleven o'clock on the morning of the 



272 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

18th he was attacked by Napoleon in person, 
while at the same time large bodies of French 
and Prussians were engaged at Wavre. On the 
field of Waterloo the combat raged during the 
day with terrific fury — Napoleon in vain hurling 
column after column upon the British lines, 
which withstood his assaults like a wall of ada- 
mant ; and when, at length, at seven in the 
evening, he brought up the Imperial Guard for a 
final effort, it was driven back in disorder. At 
the same time Blucher, coming up with the Prus- 
sians, completed the route of the French army. 
The broken host fled in all directions, and Napo- 
leon himself, hastening to Paris, was the herald 
of his own defeat. Once more the capital capitu- 
lated and was occupied by foreign troops : Napo- 
leon a second time abdicated the throne, and 
after vainly attempting to escape to America, 
surrendered himself to a British man-of-war. He 
was banished by the allies to the island of St. 
Helena, where he died on the 5th of May, A. D. 
1821, during one of the most violent tempests 
that had ever raged on the island— fitting time 
for the soul of Napolron to take its departure. 
On the 20th of November, A. D. 1815, the second 
treaty of Paris was concluded between France 
and the allied powers, by which the French f ron. 



THE FOURTH PLAQUE. 273 

tier was narrowed to nearly the state in which it 
stood in A. D. 1790 : twenty-eight million pounds 
sterling were to be paid by France for the expen- 
ses of the war, and a larger sum still for the 
spoliations which she had inflicted on other 
powers during her revolution, and for five years 
her frontier fortresses were to be placed in the 
hands of her recent enemies ; while the vast 
treasures of art which adorned the museums of 
the Louvre — the trophies of a hundred victories 
—were to be restored to the states from which 
they had been pillaged by the orders of Napoleon. 
Mournfully the Parisians parted with these me- 
morials of the glories of the consulate and the 
empire. The tide of conquest had now set 
against France herself — her pride was broken — 
her humiliation complete — and the iron entered 
into the soul of the nation."— Will. Out. Hist, 
445-503. 

These terrible circumstances affecting the 
French monarchy, the sun of modern Europe, 
were a counterpart of those which darkened the 
Gothic monarchy, the sun of ancient Europe. 
The first series of events was begun by the decla- 
ration of Belisarius of his purpose u to deprive the 
Goths of all the provinces which they unjustly 
withheld from their lawful sovereign ;" and the 



274 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

second series was commenced with the Declara- 
tion of Independence, announcing the inherent 
and inalienable rights of all men. This applied, 
in its most limited sense, to the political powers 
and privileges of the American people, in their 
relation to the king of Great Britain, by whom 
they were oppressed; it applies in a broader 
sense, as seen in the light of prophecy and his- 
tory, to the French nation, which was more se- 
verely oppressed by its monarchs, and aristocrat- 
ic and clerical classes; and it applies in its 
broadest sense to the civil, religious and social 
rights of all men, everywhere, and at all times, — 
to the breaking down, pulverizing and blow- 
ing away of the whole of Nebuchadnezzar's im- 
age. 

The recovery of Italy was begun by Belisarius 
in A. D. 534, and prosecuted with varying fortune 
until A. D. 552, when Narses was appointed com- 
mander of the armies in Italy. In A. D. 554 the 
power of the Goths was subdued, and the author- 
ity of Narses was obeyed until A. D. 567, after 
which the further subjugation of the country 
was effected by Alboiii, king of the Lombards, 
who reigned until A. D. 573, when the splendid 
career of this great military chieftain was ended 
through his inability to defend himself from the 



THE FOURTH PLAGUE. 275 

revenge of his wife, Rosamond, whose people he 
had murdered. So from A. D. 1776 (534 + 1242 
— 1776) the recovery of the provinces unjustly 
withheld from their laAvful owners was com- 
menced and prosecuted, first in America, and 
then in France, with varying fortune, until A. 
D. 1794 (552 + 1242 = 1794), when Napoleon u was 
made a brigadier general of artillery," and when, 
being "stationed at the foot of the Maritime 
Alps, he made the campaign of A. D. 1794 against 
the Piedmontese troops." In 1796-7 (554 + 1242 
= 1796) the power of the Pope in Italy was sub- 
dued, and the rule of Napoleon continued till 
A. D. 1809 (567 + 1242 = 1809), when he renewed 
the subjugation of Italy by annexing all the re- 
maining provinces to the French empire. And 
after this time he continued to oppress Europe 
until A. D. 1815 (573 + 1242 = 1815), when, at the 
battle of Waterloo, the splendid career of this 
great military chieftain was ended by his inabil- 
ity to defend himself from the revenge of Wel- 
lington and Blucher, whose people he had mur- 
dered. 



CHAPTER XVH 

THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 



1796-1874. 



"And the fifth angel poured out his cup on the throne of the 
beast ; and his kingdom was filled with darkness ; and they 
gnawed their tongues because of pain; and they spoke im- 
piously against the God of heaven because of their pains, and 
because of their sores ; and they repented not of their works.* 1 
Eev. xvi. 10, 11. 

"And the ten horns that you saw, and the beast, these will 
hate the harlot, and make her desolate and naked, and will eat 
her flesh, and burn her up with fire.'' Rev. xvii. 16. 

" I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, 
and given to the burning flame." Dan. vii. 11. 

In former chapters we have considered the pro- 
gressive rise and development of the Papal 
beast ; and his co-operation with the ten-horned 
monarchical monster of Europe in persecuting 
and killing the saints of the Most High ; and we 
have seen "the woman drunk with the blood of 
the saints, and of the blood of the Witnesses of 
Jesus." Kev. xvii. 6. In the present chapter we 
shall trace the decline and fall of this murderous 
power, see the fifth angel pour out his cup on the 



THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 277 

throne of the beast, and "the ten horns" that 
were to "receive authority as kings at the same 
time with the beast," "hate the harlot, and make 
her desolate and naked, and eat her flesh, and 
burn her up with fire." 

In the eighth chapter we saw that the seventh 
form of Roman government, the Gothic, was su- 
perseded by the eighth, the Papal, in A. D. 554. 
Hence we may infer that in A. D. 1796, at the end 
of the "forty-two months" (554 + 1242 = 1796), a 
terrible affliction will befall Rome, the throne of 
the Papal beast, or the capital, and temporal do- 
minions of the Pope : "In the Spring of A. I). 
1796 the French directory sent . . . the army 
of Italy, under Bonaparte, numbering forty- two 
thousand, . . . which subdued Piedmont, 
conquered Lombardy, humbled all the Italian 
States, and defeated, and almost destroyed, four 
powerful armies which Austria sent against him. 
. . . Thus terminated the brilliant Italian cam- 
paigns of Napoleon. Italy was the greatest suf- 
ferer in these contests. 'Her territory was par- 
titioned; her independence ruined; her galleries 
pillaged ;— the trophies of art had followed the 
car of victory ; and the works of immortal genius, 
which no wealth could purchase, had been torn 
from their native seats and violently transplant- 



278 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBEES. 

ed into a foreign soil." — Willson's Out. Hist., 465, 
467. 

"While condemning these violent proceedings, 
Pins VI. refused to join the coalition of European 
States against France ; but the assassination at 
Rome, Jan. 13, A. D. 1793, of Basseville, a French 
emissary, ultimately led to the invasion of the 
Papal territories by Bonaparte in A. D. 1796. By 
the treaty of Tolentino, Feb. 19, A. D. 1797, Pius 
was forced to surrender Avignon and the Ven- 
aissin, and the legations of Ferrara, Bologna and 
the Romagna, to pay an indemnity of 31,000,000 
francs, and to give up to the French some of the 
finest works of art in Rome. The fulfilment of 
these conditions brought the Pope to the verge 
of ruin."— Am. Cya, "Pius VI." 

The above constitutes an exact counterpart of 
the events of A. D. 554 and 555. In 554 the power 
of the Goths was suppressed in Rome and Italy, 
that the authority of the Popes might prevail 
there, and in A. D. 1796 (554 + 1242 = 1796) the 
dominions of the Pope were invaded, and his 
power suppressed by Napoleon , in A. D. 555 Pope 
Vigilius having died, "Pelagius was chosen his 
successor -by the influence of Justinian," and in 
the same year he became possessed of the wealth 
and splendors of the See of Rome, and in A. D. 



THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 279 

1797 (655 + 1242 = 1797), through, the influence of 
Napoleon, Pius VI., as already shown, was forced 
to surrender much of his temporal dominions in 
Italy, u to pay an indemnity of 31,000,000 francs, 
and to give up to the French some of the finest 
works of art in Rome. The fulfilment of these 
conditions brought the Pope to the verge of 
ruin." 

In chapter VIII. we saw also that "Longinus was 
sent in the year A. D. 566 (some historians say A. 
D. 567) by the emperor, Justin II., to govern Italy 
with absolute authority; and he changed the 
whole form of the government, abolished the 
senate, and consuls, and all the former magis- 
trates in Rome and Italy, and in every city of 
note constituted a new governor with the title of 
Duke. He himself presided over all ; and resid- 
ing at Ravenna, and not at Rome, he was called 
the Exarch of Ravenna,"— Diss. Proph., 541. 

By removing from Rome the senate, consuls, 
magistrates and everything else pertaining to the 
former Imperial and Barbarian dominions, great- 
er facilities were afforded for the rise of the 
power of the Popes. Consequently, at 1242 years 
from that time we may expect to find a corres- 
ponding humiliation of Papal authority. The 
1242 years added to 566 brings us to the year 1808. 



280 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

"In the meantime (A. D. 1808) difficulties had 
arisen between the French emperor and Pope 
Pins VII. : French troops entered Rome; and 
by a decree of Napoleon, the Papal States were 
annexed to the French empire. This was imme- 
diately followed by a bnll of excommunication 
against Napoleon, whereupon the Pope was seized 
and conveyed a prisoner into France, where he 
was detained until the Spring of 1813." — Will, 
Out. Hist, 491. 

"The refusal of the Pope to grant a divorce be- 
tween Jerome Bonaparte and Miss Patterson, and 
a dispute concerning appointments to certain va- 
cant Sees in the kingdom of Italy, hastened a 
rupture. In February, A. D. 1808, a French force 
under Gen. Miollis took possession of Pome; in 
April the emperor declared diplomatic intercourse 
at an end, and annexed the provinces of Ancona, 
Macerata, Fermo and Urbino to the kingdom of 
Italy, and in May, 1809, the remainder of the Ro- 
man States were incorporated with the French 
empire, Napoleon declaring that he 'deemed it 
proper, for the security of his empire and of his 
people, to take back the grant of Charlemagne V 
The Pope replied by a bull of excommunication 
(June, A. D. 1809). At dawn on July 6, Gen. 
Radet forced an entrance into the Quirinal, and 



THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 281 

conveyed the Pontiff, with his friend, Cardi- 
nal Pacca, to Grenoble."— Am. Cyc, "Pius VII.' 1 

"Napoleon abolished the inquisition in all Italy 
in A. D. 1808," and in Spain, "Joseph Bonaparte 
entirely abolished it in December, A. D. 1808."— 
Am. Cyc, "Inquisition." 

In. A. D. 566 or 567 the emperor Justin II. sent 
his exarch or deputy "to govern Italy with abso- 
lute authority, and he changed the whole form 
of the government, abolished the senate, and 
consuls, and all the former magistrates in Eome 
and Italy." Justin caused all the old institutions 
and privileges to be abolished, that the provinces 
of Italy, the ancient centre of imperial power, 
might be completely incorporated with his By- 
zantine empire, and to increase the security of 
his empire and of his people. And in A. D. 1808 
and 1809 (567 + 1242 = 1809) the emperor Napo- 
leon sent his generals, or deputies to govern Italy, 
they abolished the inquisition and other favorite 
institutions of Popery, and the provinces of Italy, 
the centre of Papal power they incorporated with 
the French empire of Napoleon, "for the security 
of his empire and of his peqple." The acts of 
Bonaparte and his generals correspond with those 
of Justin and his exarch, rather than with the 
doings of Charlemagne, as Napoleon supposed : 



282 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

for the removal of the senate, consuls and magis 
trates from Eome cleared the way for the estab- 
lishment of the power of the Popes there. 

The destruction of Papal and clerical tyranny, 
as well as the overthrow of monarchical and aris- 
tocratic despotism, is the proper work of the 
"stone cut out of the mountain," or the divine 
principle of human rights proclaimed in the Dec- 
laration of Independence ; and from the year A. 
D. 1776 to the present time, the little horn, to- 
gether with the ten toes of Nebuchadnezzar's 
monarchical image, have been crumbling to dust, 
which has been bloAvn away by the wind of heaven. 
We will now notice some of the conflicts of the 
stone with the toes of the image— the efforts of 
the people to establish, and of the dragon and 
beast to suppress, civil and religious liberty : 
''''Spain. During the period of general peace, 
from A. D. 1815 to 1820, Spain, under the rule of 
the restored Ferdinand, was in a state of con- 
stant political agitation ; and in A. D. 1820 an 
insurrection of the soldiery compelled the King 
to restore to his subjects the free and almost re- 
publican constitution of A. D. 1812. . . . Sev- 
eral of the European powers, in a congress held 
at Verona, adopted a resolution to support the 
authority of the king in opposition to the consti- 



THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 283 

tution which he had granted ; but England stood 
aloof, and to France was intrusted the execution 
of the odious measure of suppressing democratic 
principles in Spain. 

Portugal. The adjoining kingdom of Portu- 
gal was a prey to similar commotions. . . . In 
August A. D. 1820 a revolution broke out, and a 
free constitution was soon after established, hav- 
ing for its basis the abolition of privileges, the 
legal equality of all classes, the freedom of the 
press, and the formation of a representative body 
in the national legislature. The constitution, 
being violently opposed by the clergy and privi- 
leged classes, who formed what was called the 
apostolic party, . . . was suppressed in A. 
D. 1823. 

Naples. ... At length, on the 2d of July, 
A. I). 1820, the growing discontent of the people 
broke out in open insurrection, and a remon- 
strance was sent to the government demanding a 
representative constitution. One based on the 
Spanish constitution of A. D. 1812 was im- 
mediately granted, and the Neapolitan parlia- 
ment was opened on the 1st of October following; 
but on the same month a convention of the three 
crowned heads who formed the Holy Alliance, 
attended by ministers from most of the other 



284 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

European powers, met at Troppau; and it was 
there resolved by the sovereigns of Russia, Aus- 
tria and Prussia, to put down the Neapolitan con- 
stitution by force of arms. France approved the 
measure, but the British cabinet remained neu- 
tral. 

Piedmont . . . Scarcely had the Neapolitan 
Revolution been suppressed, when an insurrec- 
tion, beginning with the military, broke out in 
Piedmont. . . . While efforts were made to 
organize a government, an Austrian army was 
assembled in Lombardy to put down the revolu- 
tion. . . . On the 8th of April the insurgents 
were overthrown in battle ; and on the 10th the 
combined royal and Austrian troops were in pos- 
session of the whole country. In Piedmont, as 
in Naples, Austrian interference, ever exerted on 
the side of tyranny, suppressed every germ of 
constitutional freedom. 

The French Revolution of 1830. . . . The 
new king, bitterly opposed to the principles of 
the Revolution, and governed by the councils of 
bigoted priests, labored to build up an absolute 
monarchy, with a privileged nobility and clergy 
for its support; while, on the other hand, the 
people, persuaded that a plot was formed to de- 
prive them of their constitutional privileges, 



THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 285 

talked of open resistance to the arbitrary de- 
mands of the court. ... In the meantime the 
king and his ministers, hoping to facilitate their 
projects, and overcome their unpopularity by 
gratifying the taste of the French people for mil- 
itary glory, declared war against Algiers. 

English Reforms. From the death of George 
the Third, in A. D. 1820, to the death of George 
the Fourth, in June, A. D. 1830, England was agi- 
tated by a continued struggle between the two 
great parties which divided the nation — the 
whigs and the tories. Civil disabilities of all 
kinds were loudly objected to, and political 
abuses denounced with a plainness and force 
never before known in England. . . . The 
passage of the reform bill was, "to England, a po- 
litical revolution — none the less important be- 
cause it was bloodless, and carried on under the 
protection of law. ... As to England her- 
self, none of the many evils arising from demo- 
cratic ascendency in the government, so often 
predicted by the aristrocratic party, have yet fol- 
lowed in the train of reform ; but, on the con- 
trary, the peace, power and prosperity of the 
country have increased thereby. 

French Revolution oj '1848. . . . During the 
winter of A. D. 1847-8 numerous political reform 



286 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

banquets were held throughout France. . . . 
The leaders of the opposition having announced 
that reform banquets would be held throughout 
France on the 22d of February, Washington's 
birthday (a terror to despots); on the evening 
preceding the 22d, the administration forbade 
the intended meeting in Paris, and made exten- 
sive military preparations to suppress it if it were 
attempted. . . . On the morning of the 22d 
the opposition papers announced that the ban- 
quet would be deferred. . . . At an early 
hour on Wednesday, February 23d, crowds again 
appeared in the streets, barricades were erected, 
and some skirmishing ensued, in which a few 
persons were killed. . , . Between ten and 
eleven in the evening a crowd, passing the Hotel 
of Foreign Affairs, was suddenly fired upon by 
the troops with fatal effect. The people fled in 
consternation, but their thirst for vengeance was 
aroused, and the cry, 'To arms ! Down with the 
assassins ! Down with Louis Phillippe ! Down 
with the Bourbons !' resounded throughout Paris. 
. . . On the day of the king's abdication the 
Chamber of Deputies assembled ; but, being over- 
whelmed by the crowd, the greatest confusion 
prevailed, and amid shouts of 'No king ! Long 
live the republic,' the members of a provisional 



THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 287 

government were named, and adopted by popular 
acclamation. . . . And amid the turbulent 
demonstrations of the Parisian populace the 
French Republic was adopted, and proclaimed to 
the nation. Royalty had vanished, almost with- 
out a struggle— blown aivay by the breath of an 
urban tumult — and the strangest revolution of 
modern times was consummated. 

Revolutions in the German States, Prussia, and 
Austria. As soon as the first accounts of the 
French Revolution of the 24th of February, A. D. 
1848, reached Germany, the whole of that vast 
country was in a ferment : popular commotions 
took place in all the large cities ; and the people 
demanded a political constitution that should 
give them a share in legislation, establish the 
liberty of the press, and otherwise secure them 
their just rights. . . . Within a week from 
the revolution in Paris the demands of the peo- 
ple had been acceded to throughout nearly all 
the south and west of Germany. . . . When, 
however, news of the downfall of Louis Phillippe 
reached Vienna, a shock was felt which vibrated 
throughout the whole Austrian empire; the 
public funds immediately fell thirty per cent. : 
the people, sympathizing with the Parisians, ex- 
pressed themselves upon the great subject of 



288 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

reform with a freedom and earnestness altogether 
foreign to their habits; and the royal family, 
panic-stricken by the gathering tempest, were 
closeted in deep consultation. All the royal 
family and the imperial cabinet, with the excep- 
tion of the Archduke Louis, uncle of the emperor, 
and the minister Metternich, were in favor of 
making immediate concessions to the people, as 
the only means of retaining the provinces, if not 
of preserving the throne. . . . The first period 
of the revolution terminated with the triumph 
of the people, and was followed by apparently 
sincere efforts on the part of the government to 
fulfil its promises and carry out the reforms 
projected. But serious difficulties intervened. 
. . . The emperor Ferdinand, yearning for re- 
pose, resigned his crown in favor of his nephew 
the Archduke Joseph : the government resumed 
its despotic powers ; and Austria fell back to her 
old position. In Prussia, Frederick William, 
imitating the Austrian emperor, and calling the 
army to his aid, dissolved the assembly which he 
had called for the purpose of constructing a con- 
stitution, and forgot all his promises in favor of 
reform. 

With both Prussia and Austria against them, 
the smaller German States, divided in their 



THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 289 

counsels, could accomplish nothing ; and the pro- 
ject of German unity was virtually abandoned. 
Revolution in Italy. Since the fall of Napo- 
leon, Austrian influence has been predominant 
in Italy. ... It was not long before Austria, 
in her steady adherence to the principles of des- 
potism, had exacted treaties from all the princes 
of Italy, stipulating that no constitution should 
be granted to their subjects. . . The elec- 
tion in June A. D. 1846, of Cardinal Mastai, to 
fill the Pontificial chair, with the appellation of 
Pius the Ninth, threatened the subversion of 
Austrian influence throughout a greater part of 
Italy. . . . From the well-known liberal char- 
acter of Pius the Ninth, and the manner in which 
his reign began, it was to be expected that, in 
the Papal States at least, liberty would find a 
quiet asylum. For a time prince and people 
were united in the noble cause of the political 
renovation of Italy ; but the people soon outran 
the Pope in the march of reform, and began to 
murmur because he lingered so far behind them. 
. . . In the Summer of A. D. 1848 symptoms of 
reaction began to appear : Pius signified to the 
Roman Chamber of Deputies that it was asking 
too much ; and his appointment of Rossi to the 
post of prime minister exasperated the people, 



290 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

and diminished his own popularity Rossi's 
avowed hostility to the democratic movement led 
to his assassination on the 15th of November, as 
he was proceeding to open the Chambers, and 
eight days later the Pope fled from Rome, and 
took up his residence in Gaeta, in the territory 
of the king of Naples. On the 9th of February 
following, a National Assembly, elected by the 
people, proclaimed that the Popes, temporal pmver 
was at an end, and that the form of government 
of the Roman States should be a pure democracy, 
with the name of 'The Roman Republic' Month 
after month Pius remained at Gaeta, unwilling 
to demand foreign aid to reinstate him in his 
temporal sovereignty, and hoping that his peo- 
ple acknowledging their past misconduct, would 
recall him of their own accord ; but no signs of 
any change in his favor being exhibited, he at 
length availed himself of the only resource left 
him. The Roman Catholic powers of Austria, 
Naples, Spain, and France, responded to his 
appeal for aid : the Austrians entered the Papal 
States on the north,— the Neapolitans on the 
south— a body of Spanish troops landed on the 
coast— and, to the shame of republican France, 
toward the close of April a French army, un- 
der the command of General Oudinot, was 



THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 291 

sent to southern Italy, under the avowed pre- 
tence of checking Austrian influence in that 
quarter, but, in reality, as the sequel proved, to 
restore Papal authority on the ruins of the 
Roman Republic. . . . Pius the Ninth re- 
turned to Rome, stealthily, and in the night, a 
changed man. Three years of political experience 
had changed his zeal for reform into the most 
imbittered feeling towards all democratic insti- 
tutions : political tolerance gave place to the 
most determined support of absolutism ; and the 
blessings with which his people once greeted him 
were changed to curses."— WilUorHs Out. Hist. 
512-548. 

Before we proceed we must make an assay to 
see if we are still following the vein of golden 
ore. In former chapters we have seen that while 
the supreme authority in ecclesiastical affairs 
had been claimed and contested by the rival 
bishops of Rome and Constantinople, the emper- 
ors from Coustantine to Phocas, were virtually 
head of the Church, and exercised authority over 
all bishops, and church doctrines and controver- 
sies ; and that in the year 606 or 607 Pope Boni- 
face III. "by virtue of a grant from the wicked 
tyrant Phocas, first assumed the title of Univer- 
sal Pastor, and thereon claimed to himself that 



292 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

supremacy which lie hath been ever since en- 
deavoring to usurp over the Christian Church." 
Some modern writers place this grant of Phocas 
in the year 607 : Pope Boniface III., "a Greek 
successor of Sabinianus in March, A. D. 607, died 
in November of the same year. He convoked a 
council of 72 bishops, . . and obtained from 
the emperor, Phocas, the acknowledgment that 
the See of Rome had universal supremacy." — Am, 
Cyc, "Boniface HIP 

In this manner, and at this time, the headship 
of the Church was transferred from the emperor 
(the dragon) to the Pope (the beast), and the lat- 
ter received from the former his "great author- 
ity." And, measuring with the 1242 solar years 
from 606-607, we come exactly upon the remark- 
able events of 1848-1849 (607 + 1242 = 1849), when, 
as shown by the above quotations, the great au- 
thority of the Pope was taken from him, and a 
republican form of government was proclaimed 
in Rome. Although the Pope was reinstated, 
and for a time supported in his temporal domin- 
ion, this was not by his own power, but by that 
of dragonic Austria, Naples, Spain and France ; 
and, as we shall soon see, when the bayonets of 
these powers were no longer available, the 
temporal power of the Popes came to its final end. 



THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 293 

We will now endeavor to- find in history the 
events indicated by John by these words : "And 
the ten horns that you saw, and the beast, these 
will hate the harlot, and will make her desolate 
and naked, and will eat her flesh, and burn her 
up with fire," (Rev. xvii. 16) ; and by Daniel by 
these words: "I beheld even till the beast was 
slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the 
burning flame." Dan. vii. 11. 

"The ten horns," or despotic monarchies, were 
to "receive authority as kings at the same time 
with the beast," or Papacy, to which they were 
to "give their power" "till the words of God be 
accomplished ;" and after this time, "these will 
hate the harlot, and will make her desolate and 
naked." 

Up to this time Spain, Austria and France had 
been the chief supporters of the Papacy, but we 
will now notice when the change took place in 
the attitude of these powers. 

Spain. "On Aug. 15th the national guard was 
dissolved, and gradually the illiberal legislation 
of A. D. 1845 restored, especially since Narvaez 
had became prime minister. The sale of church 
property was inhibited, and the concordat of A. 
D. 1851 restored. The church property question was 
finally adjusted by a convention with Rome, on 



294 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

Aug. 25, A. D. 1859; and the Spanish government 
became the strongest supporter of the temporal 
sovereignty of the Pope." (Am. Cyc, "Spain") 
"But in September, A. D. 1868, while the Queen 
Eegnant was absent at the north to interview 
her friend, Napoleon III., a widely extended 
movement, in which most of the eminent men of 
Spain took part, began ; and in a few days the 
Spanish monarchy ceased to exist. . . . The 
effect of this revolution was to liberalize Spain 
at a bound, and for two years that country has 
been as free from bigotry in action as any coun- 
try in Europe. Protestant worship is as safely 
performed in Madrid as in London or New York ; 
and the Bible in Castilian can be circulated to 
the south of the Pyrenees." — Harper's Magazine, 
Jan., 1871. 

Austria. "During the war the work of central- 
ization had been carried on by the Austrian 
government with apparent success. By the con- 
cordat with the Holy See (A. D. 1855) Austria 
gave back to the Roman Catholic clergy all the 
privileges and influence which had been wrested 
from them since the time of Joseph II." During 
A. D. 1866 Austria was terribly defeated and hu- 
miliated by her Protestant neighbor, Prussia, and 
"on May 25, A. D. 1868, the government sanction- 



THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 295 

ed three laws adopted by both houses of the 
Reichsrath, which, in accordance with the views 
of the liberal party, abolished the jurisdiction of 
the ecclesiastical courts over the marriage rela- 
tions of Catholics, transferred the supreme direc- 
tion and superintendence of the entire depart- 
ment of instruction and education to the State, 
and regulated the relations of the churches re- 
cognized by the State on the basis of equal 
rights. The Papal Nuncio in Vienna protested 
against these laws as a violation of the concordat, 
and the Pope declared them to be null and void ; 
but the government, while endeavoring to con- 
ciliate the bishops as much as possible, carried 
them through. Another important victory was 
gained by the liberal party in A. D. 1870, when 
the government declared the concordat of A. 
D. 1855 to be no longer valid." — Am. Cyc, 
"Austria." 

France was now the only dragonic power that 
could uphold and defend the beast, and it was 
the fate of these two monsters to be destroyed at 
the same time. "Among external affairs the 
'Roman question,' the problem of the position of 
the Papal States in relation to the rest of Italy, 
had assumed an aspect which seemed likely to 
require prompt action if the imperial policy was 



296 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

to be sustained. When in the Autumn of A. D. 
1867 an Italian uprising against the continuance 
of the Papal power in Rome occurred, under 
Garibald's influence and leadership, and the 
government of Victor Emanuel manifested the 
greatest hesitancy in undertaking an active in- 
terference, Napoleon was driven to more ener- 
getic measures. An ultimatum was sent to Flor- 
ence on October 16, and on the 30th a body of 
French troops, brought from Toulon by sea, en- 
tered Rome ; on Nov. 3, they reinforced the Pa- 
pal troops at the battle of Mentana against the 
Italian forces, and secured the defeat of the lat- 
ter ; and no part of the force was withdrawn un- 
til the Pope's authority was re-established. Even 
then small garrisons were left in Rome and Civ- 
ita Vecchia ; and as much diplomatic negotiation 
on the part of France with the other great poAvers 
did not lead to a settlement of the question 
which was at the same time satisfactory to the 
government of Victor Emanuel and that of the 
emperor, these garrisons were retained pending 
the decision of the matter; and they did not 
finally leave the Italian capital until other and 
far different events had brought about Napo- 
leon's downfall, nearly three years later/' — Am. 
Cyc, "France" 



THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 297 

On August 2d, A. D. 1870 war was commenced 
between Protestant Germany and Catholic 
France, and after one month's fighting the vast 
armies of the latter were so overwhelmingly de- 
feated that "the emperor Napoleon surrendered 
himself to king William in person, Sept. 2, and 
was carried prisoner to Wilhelmshole. In dead 
and wounded and the vast number of prisoners 
of war the French had thus lost in a few days 
an army of nearly 150,000 men." — Am. Ci/c. 
"France" 

Thus terribly fell the crushing vengeance of 
heaven upon the civil powers that have courted 
and practiced lewdness with the harlot of Rome. 

This final destruction of the imperial power of 
France is doubtless indicated by the "forty-two 
months." Let us see. The tranquility of the 
Roman empire that succeeded the barbarian in- 
vasions had been frequently disturbed by her 
eastern rival, Persia, Avhen finally "the spirit of 
Heraclius was roused, and God gave him won- 
derful success : The Persian king was repeatedly 
vanquished, though he ceased not to persecute 
the Christians, so long as he had power, . . . 
and in the year A. D. 628 the Persian power 
ceased to be formidable to the Roman empire." — 
Hist. Ok. Christ., vol. 3, 86. 



298 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

In A. D. 628 the king of Persia, the chief sup- 
porter of the Magian religion, was vanquished by 
the Romans, and ceased to be formidable to the 
empire of Romanism ; and in A. D. 1870 (628 + 
1242 = 1870) the emperor of France, the chief 
supporter of the Papal religion was vanquished 
by the Protestants of Germany, and ceased to be 
formidable to the empire of Protestantism. 

How the European nations "hate the harlot 
and make her desolate and naked" may be seen 
also in their treatment of the Jesuits, those deadly 
enemies of civil and religious liberty, who are 
ever plotting the overthrow of Protestant and 
liberal governments, and who are always made 
to fly on the rising of the friends of freedom. 
"The revolution of A. D. 1848 endangered their 
existence in all Italy ; mobs attacked their houses 
in Genoa and Naples, and they were expelled 
from nearly every state, even from the dominions 
of the Pope. The General found for some time a 
refuge in England. They returned after the 
success of the counter revolution in A. D. 1849 to 
most states, except Sardinia and Tuscany, but 
were again expelled by the movements of A. D. 
1859 from Lombardy, Parma, Modena, and the le- 
gations. In Naples the principal organ of the 
Jesuits, the Civilta Cattolica of Rome, was pro- 



THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 299 

hibited in A. D. 1855 for having censured the 
government. . . . In A. D. 1860 the progress 
of Garibaldi in Sicily and the Neapolitan provin- 
ces was attended by the expulsion of the Jesuits 
and the sequestration of their property. The 
establishment of the kingdom of Italy was the 
signal for the final suppression of the order in the 
peninsula, . . . As province after province 
was taken from him (Pius IX.), the Jesuits were 
driven from their houses. When Rome became 
the capital of Italy in A. D. 1870, the Italian par- 
liament decreed the suppression of all religious 
orders and corporations. The houses destined 
as residences for the heads of these orders and 
their officers were at first reserved from the gen- 
eral decree ; but in October A. D. 1873, despite 
the efforts of the Italian ministry, these central 
residences were suppressed by the legislature, 
and no Jesuit at present legally exists in Rome 
or elsewhere in Italy. In Portugal, John VI. 
protested against their restoration. Dom Miguel 
admitted them by a decree of A. D. 1829, but Dom 
Pedro exiled them in A. D. 1834, since which time 
there have been no recognized communities of Jes- 
uits in that country." ... In Spain "in A. D. 1835 
Queen Christiana was compelled to suppress the 
order, and in A. D. 1840 its last house, at Loyola 



300 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

in Guipuzcoa was dissolved by order of the pro- 
vincial regency. . . . They were once more 
banished by Espartero in A. D. 1854, but were 
recalled by O'Donald in A. D. 1858, at the in- 
stance of the emperor and empress of the French. 
. . . But after the revolution of A. D. 1868 
they were once more banished from Spain. . . . 
In the kingdom of Saxony they were expressly 
excluded from the country by a provision in the 
constitution of A. D. 1831. The events of A. D. 
1848, which expelled them from so many coun- 
tries, opened to them a wide field of action in 
many of the German states. . . . But the 
active part taken by the theologians of the order 
in advocating and promoting the dogma of pon- 
tifical infallibility, and the coalition of the ultra- 
montane deputies with the separatists in the 
Reichstag, aroused the suspicions of the German 
imperial government, and led finally to their 
suppression and their expulsion from the German 
empire in A. D. 1873." In Switzerland "in A. D. 
1847 the federal diet demanded the dissolution of 
the Sonderbund and the removal of the Jesuits ; 
the seven cantons refusing submission to this de- 
cree, war ensued, and ended in breaking up the 
alliance and the expulsion of the Jesuits, who 
have ever since been forbidden by the federal 



THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 301 

constitution to return. The Swiss constitution 
as revised in A. D. 1874 rigorously excluded all 
religious corporations from the territory of the 
republic,"— Am. Cyc, "Jesuits" 

Daniel "beheld even till the beast was slain, 
and his body destroyed and given to the burning 
flame." "At length,, after the withdrawal of the 
last French soldier, Aug. 21, 1870, in consequence 
of the French reverses in the German war, Vic- 
tor Emanuel wrote to Pius IX. declaring that the 
occupation of Eome by Italian troops had become 
an imperative necessity. This event took place 
on Sept. 20, the pontiricial garrison making but a 
brief resistance. The great powers were notified 
of it on Oct, 18 ; in December the Italian cham- 
bers at Florence declared Kome the capital of 
Italy, and on May 13, A. D. 1871, passed a law 
known as 'the bill of the Papal guarantees.' By 
this law the Pope is permitted to enjoy the rank 
of a sovereign, and occupy the palace and basilica 
of the Vatican, with a yearly revenue from the 
Italian treasury of $625,000. All church property 
in Eome and its immediate territory became the 
property of the nation in A. 1 >. 1873, and a large 
portion of the numerous establishments have 
since been sold to help pay the heavy public 
debt." (Am. Cyc, "Papal States.") "A plebisci- 



302 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

turn held in the following October, A. D. 1870, 
declared, by an immense majority (^50,000 to 50), 
the will of the citizens to submit to the consti- 
tutional government of the king* of Italy. The 
temporal sovereignty of the Pope was in conse- 
quence abolished. Rome was declared the capi- 
tal of the Italian kingdom, and became thence- 
forth the seat of the new government, where the 
royal court has its residence, and the Italian 
parliament its sessions. The first session of par- 
liament was opened on Nov. 27, A. D. 1871." "The 
first English Protestant church ever erected 
within the walls of Pome was opened Oct 26, A. 
D. 1874."— ,4m. Cyc, "Rome." 

We have already seen that the "forty-two 
months" indicated that the chief supporter of the 
Papacy should be overthrown in A. D. 1870. And 
as Daniel has so graphically described the des- 
truction of the beast we may hope that he has 
also indicated the time when this important 
event should occur. u Blessed is he that waiteth, 
and cometh to the thousand three hundred and 
fiYQ and thirty days." Dan. xii. 12. In this case, 
as In others, a day signifies a lunar year, and the 
1335 years will be properly shortened by deduct- 
ing 19 therefrom, which leaves 1316 historical 
years. And measuring from the year 554 when 



THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 303 

the Gothic power in Eome was totally extin- 
guished, and the Papal period commenced, the 
1316 leads us down to the remarkable year 1870, 
when the humane and popular constitutional 
government of Victor Emanuel was completely 
established upon the ruins of the illiberal, unpop- 
ular and despotic government of the Roman 
Pontiffs. 

And this doubtless was the very event that 
Daniel alluded to in Dan. vii., for certainly in A. 
D. 1870 "the beast was slain, and his body des- 
troyed and given to the burning flame," which 
will continue u to consume and to destroy it unto 
the end." And as the rise of the Papacy was by 
three great steps : 1. Usurping the place of the 
Father in A. D. 554, in becoming in a manner 
governor of the world ; 2. Usurping the prerog- 
atives of the Son of God in A. D. 567, by assum- 
ing to be law-giver ; and 3. Usurping the func- 
tions of the Holy Ghost in A. D. 607, by receiving 
the title of and claiming to be, Supreme and Uni- 
versal Bishop, possessing the sole right and au- 
thority to "teach all things" and. "guide into all the 
truth," so we have seen that its decline by three 
great steps, in A. D. 1796, 1809, and 1849, was an 
exact counterpart of its development, and doubt- 
less its total extinction will occur in the same 



304 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

three-fold order, and the periods of its utter 
overthrow, indicated by the 1335 days of Dan. 
xii. 12, be 1870, 1883, and 1923. The events of the 
former year we have already pointed out, those 
of the latter two we will consider in other chap- 
ters. There are many other things connected 
with the fifth plague that would be studied with 
interest, but we have space for only the follow- 
ing : u As much glory and voluptuousness as she 
has given to herself, so much torment and sorrow 
give her ; for she says in her heart, I sit as a queen, 
and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. 
Therefore, her plagues shall come in one day 
(one year), death and mourning and famine ; and 
she shall be utterly burned with fire ; for strong 
is the Lord God who judges her." Rev. xviii. 7, 8. 
This scripture corresponds with the circum- 
stances of the great Vatican Council, which was 
convened at a time when two of the harlot's chief 
paramours, Austria and Spain, were alienated 
from their spouse, and France was the only dra- 
gonic power remaining faithful to her. Hence, 
having one of her ten husbands remaining, she 
says, "I sit as a queen, and am no widow, and 
shall see no sorrow." She could exult thus be- 
cause he had substantial evidence of her lover's 
affections in the troops which he had placed for 



THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 305 

her protection in Rome and Civita Veccliia 
Neither would she consider herself childless, for 
over 700 representatives of her harlot daughters 
then surrounded her throne. 

And although in "the sermon preached at the 
opening of the council before the Sovereign Pon- 
tiff, and the assembled Fathers, by Mgr. Luigi 
Puecher Passavalli," the preacher quoted Lam. 
i. 1, "How doth the city sit sorrowful that was 
full of people ! How is the mistress of the Gen- 
tiles become as a widow: the princess of prov- 
inces made tributary," but without quoting the 
answer in the eighth verse : "Jerusalem (Rome) 
hath greviously sinned ; therefore she is removed: 
all that honored her despise her, because they 
have seen her nakedness ;" yet he spurned the 
idea of widowhood thus : "behold, a ray of pu- 
rest light cleaves the thick darkness, and revives 
our almost withered hopes. For the mind of the 
Supreme Pontiff, who directs the helm of the 
ship, was inspired with the thought of calling to 
his side the Elders of the new Israel and his 
brothers in the faith, that they might, by their 
united wisdom, take immediate concert for the 
security of the Tabernacle of G-od, threatened 
even in the inmost recess of its sanctuary, by 
hosts of formidable enemies ;" and, in concluding 



306 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

his discourse, prayed thus: "May all these 
graces be mercifully vouchsafed to each of us, 
tit rough the intercession of the Ever Blessed and 
Glorious Virgin Mary, for to-day the world cele- 
brates with boundless joy the mystery of Her 
Immaculate Conception." 

And although u at the opening of the Holy 
(Ecumenical Council by our Most Holy Lord, 
Pope Pius, by Divine Providence the Ninth, on 
the eighth day of December, 1869," the "Holy 
Father" prayed thus : "And thou, too, Mother of 
fair love, of knowledge and holy hope, thou Queen 
and bulwark of the Church, do thou take our 
consultations and our toils under the secure pro- 
tection of thy motherly care ; and by thy prayers 
to God gain for us the grace to be ever one in 
spirit and one in heart. Be you also with us, ye 
angels and archangels ; and thou, too, prince of 
the Apostles, Blessed Peter ; and thou fellow- 
Apostle of Peter, Paul, doctor of the Gentiles 
and preacher of truth in the whole world ; and 
all ye saints of Heaven, ye especially ivhose relics 
we venerate in this place; by your powerful inter- 
cession procure for us that we may all faithfully 
fulfil our ministry, and may receive mercy from 
God in the midst of His temple ;" yet the Ger- 
mans beat the French, and Victor Emanuel took 



THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 307 

possession of Rome, and the "Supreme Vicar of 
Christ" was obliged to suspend his council, using 
among others, these doleful words : "We trusted 
that these labors would be able to continue their 
progress by the united diligence and zeal of the 
Brotherhood, and be brought by a smooth and 
successful procedure to the desired completion. 
But the sudden sacrilegious invasion of this be- 
loved city of our See, and of the remaining prov- 
inces of our Temporal Dominion, by which in- 
vasion, against all law and with incredible 
perfidy and audacity, the undisputed rights of 
the Civil Principality of us and of the Apostolic 
See have been violated — has cast us in such a 
condition of affairs that, by the permission and 
inscrutable dispensation of Almighty Cod, we are 
completely placed under hostile dominion and 
power. . . . Therefore, we, beholding to the 
grief of our soul things brought to that pass that 
the Vatican Council cannot go on in such times, 
after mature deliberation, of our own motion, and 
by Apostolic authority— do by the tenor of these 
presents suspend and announce to be suspended 
to a more opportune and convenient season to be 
declared as such by this Holy See — the celebra- 
tion of the said (Ecumenical Council of the Vati- 
can. . . . Given at Rome at Saint Peter's un- 



308 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

der the Eing of the Fisherman this 20th day of 
October, Anno, 1870, in the 25th year of our Pon- 
tificate." 

The above quotations are from "The Vatican 
Council, Part Second," an English Catholic pub- 
lication. 

The following list of events will more clear- 
ly show the signal destruction that "came in 
one day" — one year— 1870, upon "the Mother of 
Harlots": 

Dec. 8, 1869. The Vatican Council opens with 
firing of artillery, "ringing of the bells of all the 
churches in Rome," immense processions filling 
the streets and squares, and other pompous dis- 
plays of Romanism. "And an hour was consumed 
by the members in paying the prescribed homage 
to the Pope." Talk of widowhood under these 
circumstances ! The council continued its labors 
for more than seven months. 

May 8, 1870. Louis Napoleon submitted to the 
French people "the re-affirmation of the right of 
his family to the French throne ;" which was ac- 
corded by a large majority. 

July 18. The blasphemous dogma of Papal In- 
fallibility promulgated "by the Sovereign Pon- 
tiff" in the Vatican Council. 

Aug. 2. War begun by France and Germany. 



THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 309 

Aug. 21. France withdraws her last soldier 
from Rome. 

Sept. 2. The Emperor Napoleon surrenders him- 
self a prisoner to King William of Prussia. 

Sept. 4. Jules Favre demanded in the corps 
legislatif the deposition of the emperor and 
his dynasty," and "Gambetta, in the midst of the 
most tumultuous applause, proclaimed the re- 
public." 

Sept. 12. "Victor Emanuel wrote to Pius IX., 
declaring that the occupation of Rome by Italian 
troops had become an imperative necessity." 

Sept, 20. Rome finally taken possession of by 
Italian troops. 

Oct, 2. The citizens of Rome declare by a vote 
of 50,000 to 50 that they will "submit to the con- 
stitutional government of Victor Emanuel. 
The temporal sovereignty of the Pope was in con- 
sequence destroyed." "The beast was slain, and 
his body destroyed." 

Oct. 18. The great powers of Europe are noti- 
fied that the troops of Victor Emanuel had taken 
possession of Rome. 

Oct. 20. The Pope suspends the Vatican Council. 

"In the beginning of December the Italian 
parliament met and declared Rome the capital of 
Italy." 



310 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

And as in A. 1). 554 the Gothic dominion ter- 
minated and the Papal commenced, so in A. D. 
1870 (1316 + 554 = 1870), the Papal ended and the 
Italian began. But, as in A. D. 554, Pope Vigil- 
ius was at Constantinople, and, returning, having 
died at Syracuse, his successor, Pelagius, was 
elected and came to reside in Rome in A. D. 555, 
so on July 2nd, 1871 (1316 + 555 = 1871), "Victor 
Emanuel made his solemn entry into Rome, and 
took up his residence at the Quirinal." 

And now after an experience and observation 
of seven years, we will let Pio Nono tell us what 
are his views of the state of affairs inaugurated 
at Rome in 1870 : 

"The seventh year is already upon us since the 
invaders of our civil principality, riding rough- 
shod over every right, human and divine, break- 
ing faith in solemn compacts, and taking advan- 
tage of the misfortunes of an illustrious Catholic 
nation (France), by violence and force of arms, 
occupied the provinces still remaining in our 
power, taking possession of this holy city, and by 
acts of sovereign iniquity overwhelming the 
entire Church with grief and mourning. The 
false and worthless promises, which in those 
woful days they made to foreign governments 
concerning our dearest interests, by declaring 



THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 311 

that they desired to pay homage and honor to 
the freedom of the Church, and that they in- 
tended that the power of the Roman Pontiff 
should remain free and unabridged — these prom- 
ises did not succeed in beguiling us into vain 
hopes, and did not prevent us, from that very 
moment, from fully realizing all the tribulations 
and afflictions that awaited us under their do- 
minion. On the contrary, fully aware of the 
impious designs entertained by men who are 
leagued together by a fondness for modern in- 
novations, and by a criminal oath, we at once 
openly proclaimed that this sacrilegious invasion 
was not intended so much to oppress our civil 
principality as it was to undermine all the more 
readily, through the oppression of our temporal 
power, all the institutions of the Church, to 
overthrow the authority of the Holy See, and 
to utterly destroy the power of the Vicar of 
Jesus Christ, which, all unworthy as we are, we 
exercise here on earth. Indeed it may be said 
that this work of demolition and of general de- 
struction of everything connected with the 
structure and order of the Church is almost con- 
summated : if not to the extent of the desires 
and hatred of the persecutors, it is at least so 
far as concerns the sad heap of ruins they have 



312 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

succeeded, up to this time, in piling up. It is 
only necessary to glance at the laws and decrees 
promulgated since the commencement of the new 
administration, up to the present day; to realize 
fully what they have wrested from us, piece by 
piece, little by little; how, day after day, and 
one after another, they took the means and re- 
sources we so much needed for the proper guid- 
ance and direction of the Catholic Church." — 
From the Allocution of Pope Pius IX. March 12, 
1877, in Am. Cyc, 1877, p. 677. 

u And the ten horns that you saw, and the 
beast, these will hate the harlot, and will make 
her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh, 
and burn her up with fire." Rev. xvii. 16 

"I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his 
body destroyed, and given to the burning flame." 
Dan. vii. 11. 

u And the fifth angel poured out his cup upon 
the throne of the beast; and his kingdom was 
full of darkness ; and they gnawed their tongues 
because of pain : . . . and they repented not of 
their works? Rev. xvi. 10, 11. 



CHAPTER XVIH. 

THE SIXTH PLAGUE. 



1874—1883 (?). 



"And the sixth angel poured out his cup on the great river 
Euphrates ; and its water was dried up, that the way of the 
kings of the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean 
spirits, like frogs, come out of the mouth of the dragon, and 
out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false 
prophet. For they are the spirits of demons that do signs, and 
they go forth to the kings of the whole world, to bring them 
together to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Be- 
hold, I come as a thief, blessed is he that watches, and keeps 
his garments, that he may not walk naked, and that men may 
not see his nakedness. And they brought them together unto a 
place that is called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." Rev. 
xvi. 12-16. 

"And the dragon was angry with the woman, and went 
away to make war with the rest of her children, that keep the 
commandments of God, and that hold the testimony of Jesus." 
Rev. xii. 17. 

"But the court that is without the temple leave out and 
measure it not : for it is given to the Gentiles, and the holy 
city they shall tread under foot forty-two months." Rev. 
xi. 2. 

"And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken 
away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there 
shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days." Dan. 
xii. 11. 



314 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

The scripture which heads this chapter clearly 
indicates that the period of the sixth plague— in 
which we are now living — is the time in which 
begins the awful crisis of this world — "that great 
day of God Almighty." The prominent events 
predicted are: 

1. The pouring out of the u cup on the great 
river Euphrates," or the country through which 
the Euphrates flows, and the drying up of its 
waters — destroying the power of the people. It 
is unnecessary to state that this alludes to the 
Turkish empire, especially to Turkey in Asia, 
and that the people indicated by the water are 
the Mohammedan Turks. Under the sixth trum- 
pet the Turks who had been bound at the great 
river Euphrates were loosed, and commenced the 
conquest of the Eastern Roman Empire, and 
under the sixth plague their power is broken, and 
their empire dried up. 

The fifth plague terminated in A. D. 1874, and 
the sixth began at the same time : "A difficulty 
arose between Turkey and Montenegro in A. D. 
1874, on account of the murder of some Monte- 
negrins by Turks, at Podgoritza. An effort was 
made by some of the powers to make this a ques- 
tion for joint settlement ; but the Porte refused 
to allow them to interfere, and the adjustment 






THE SIXTH PLAGUE. 315 

was made without any help from abroad."— Am. 
Gyc. 1877, "The Eastern Question:' 1 

"In the Summer of 1875 an insurrection broke 
out in Herzegovina, and in October, Turkey de- 
clared her partial insolvency. Other grave com- 
plications threatening a dismemberment of the 
empire, the six powers who had signed the treaty 
of Paris, A. D. 1856, proposed a scheme of reforms 
in February, A. D. 1876, which the Sultan mainly 
accepted ; but the insurgents refused to lay down 
their arms, and his situation became more and 
more critical, and was greatly aggravated by the 
opposition of the Turkish fanatics to Christian 
equal rights, and the massacre of the French and 
German consuls at Salonica in May. A con- 
ference at Berlin between Russia, Austria and 
Germany contemplated more exacting terms for 
the protection of the Christians and restoration 
of tranquility, but England took no part in it. 
The adversaries of Abdul- Aziz, prominent among 
whom were the softas, comprising about 20,000 
students in Constantinople, who were alienated 
by his alleged subserviency to Russia, his refusal 
to restore his spoils (which were afterward con- 
fiscated), and his attempted change of the order 
of succession, brought about his deposition on 
May 30, and the accession of his nephew as Amu- 



316 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

ruth V., who on June 4 announced his prede- 
cessor's alleged suicide. The new sultan is beset 
by formidable financial and other difficulties. 
Herzegovina is still in revolt (June, A. D. 1876) ; 
Servia, Montenegro, and Bosnia maintain a 
threatening attitude ; and Bulgaria and other 
provinces are disaffected. But the European 
powers, and especially England in her antago- 
nism to Russia, strive to prevent the dismember- 
ment of Turkey, although the general confidence 
in the stability of the Ottoman dominion over 
Christian communities has never, since the con- 
quest of Constantinople (A. D. 1453) been so low 
as now." 

This quotation from the American Cyclopedia, 
article "Turkey," shows the commencement of 
the sixth plague which is to dry up the waters of 
the Mohammedan false prophet, as the fourth 
plague scorched the dragon France, and the fifth 
destroyed the body of the Papal beast. 

The desperate efforts of Turkey to subjugate 
her revolted tributary states and provinces, and 
her sanguinary but ineffectual attempts to resist 
the overwhelming legions of her hereditary 
enemy Russia, must be too fresh in the mind of 
the reader to require recital here. Suffice it to 
add that the armies of the former being com- 



THE SIXTH PLAGUE. 317 

pletely defeated by those of the latter, the repre- 
sentatives of the great powers of Europe met in 
congress at Berlin in July, A. D. 1878, and effected 
a treaty which lifts the iron heel of the Turk 
from the neck of the Christian throughout all of 
Turkey in Europe, and guarantees to the latter 
a good degree of civil and religious liberty. And 
on the 4th of June, A. D. 1878, an Anglo-Turkish 
alliance was formed, by which "his Imperial 
Majesty the Sultan, promises to England to intro- 
duce necessary reforms, to be agreed upon later 
between the two powers, into the government, 
and for the protection of the Christian and other 
subjects of the Porte in these territories," — Asia 
Minor, Syria, Palestine, and other parts of Turkey 
in Asia. While it is true that the immediate 
disintegration of the Turkish empire has been 
arrested by these treaties of the great powers, it 
cannot be denied that, as a result of the Berlin 
Congress the provinces of European Turkey have 
been taken under the protection of Christian Eu- 
rope, and hence the oppression of Christians by 
Moslems must soon cease. And it is equally clear 
that by the protectorate that England has obtain- 
ed over Asiatic Turkey the power of the British 
Lion will supercede that of the Ottoman Turk, 
and that the cross will wax as the crescent wanes. 



318 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

We have now reached the point where recorded 
events can no longer illustrate the prophetic 
word, and before we advance into the mysterious 
future, we must make another observation to see 
if we are still in the way laid out and marked 
with monuments and landmarks, by Palmoni, 
Gabriel, and other heavenly surveyors. 

When the "reed like a rod was given"- to John 
and he was told to "measure the temple of God," 
that is, the Papal Church, in which the Pope, 
"the Man of Sin . . . sits as God, . . . openly 
showing that he is God" (2 Thess. ii. 3, 4\ it was 
said to him, "But the court that is without the 
temple (the Turkish empire) leave out, and meas- 
ure it not : for it is given to the Gentiles (the 
Mohammedans) and the holy city (Jerusalem) 
they (the Mohammedans) shall tread under foot 
forty-two months." We saw in the eleventh 
chapter when the measuring of the temple com- 
menced, and now we will try to find when the 
measurement of the outer court should begin, 
and when the forty-two months during which 
Jerusalem is to be trodden down by the Gentiles 
should end. 

We will first establish by quotations the time 
when Palestine and Jerusalem began to be trod- 
den down by the Mohammedans : "The fall of 



THE SIXTH PLAGUE. 319 

Emessa, and Baalbec or Heliopolis, soon followed 
Damascus. Heraclius, the Byzantine emperor, 
made one great effort to save Syria, but on the 
banks of the Yarmouk his best generals were 
defeated by Khaled, with a loss of seventy thous- 
and soldiers, who were left dead on the field 
(Nov., A. D. 636). Jerusalem, after a siege of four 
months, capitulated to Omar, who caused the 
ground on which had stood the temple of Solo- 
mon to be cleared of its rubbish, and prepared 
for the foundation of a mosque, which still bears 
the name of the Caliph" — (the Mosque of Omar). 
— Will. Out. Hist, 249. 

"In A. D. 636 Jerusalem was besieged by 
Khaled and Abu Obeidah, generals of the caliph 
Omar. 

The siege lasted four months, and scarcely a 
day passed without a sortie or an attack. . . . 
The patriarch Sophronius at length resolved to 
capitulate, but insisted upon treating with the 
caliph in person, hoping to gain from him better 
terms than he could from his generals. Omar 
came to Jerusalem, and on taking possession of 
the city treated the inhabitants with great kind- 
ness and generosity." 

These forty-two months, like those that apply 
to Romanism, must be reduced from lunar to so- 



320 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBEKS. 

lar years by taking 18 from the 1260: 42 x 30 
= 1260 - 18 = 1242; and 1242 added to A. D. 636, 
w^ien the Saracens began to tread down Jerusa- 
lem, brings ns to the year 1878, when, by the 
Anglo-Turkish and Berlin treaties, the power of 
the Musselmans was for ever broken. 

But this number has also an earlier applica- 
tion—to the years 632 and 1874. In the former 
year, Islamism being matured, and his native 
Arabia conquered and converted to his faith, 
Mohammed died, and was succeeded by Abu- 
Beker, who immediately commenced the conquest 
of Syria and Palestine, after first instructing his 
generals, as quoted in the eight chapter : "When 
you fight the battles of the Lord, . . . destroy 
no palm trees, nor burn any fields of corn. Cut 
down no fruit trees," etc, in fulfilment of Rev. 
ix. 4. And this was the very time when "out of 
the smoke there came locusts upon the earth"— 
Roman earth— the commencement of the Saracen 
invasion of the Roman empire, which is the sub- 
ject of the prophecy. Begun in A. D. 632, the 
1242 years reach down to 1874 (632 + 1242 = 1874) 
when, having slain the Papal beast, and made 
"her desolate and naked," the powers of Europe, 
the horns of the Imperial beast, began to inflict 
the sixth plague by interfering with the affairs 



THE SIXTH PLAGUE. 321 

of the False Prophet. The treacling clown of 
Jerusalem, as we saw above, began in A. D. 636, 
and this had its counterpart in the above men- 
tioned treaties. The complete subjugation of 
Palestine was effected in A. D. 639, and the con- 
quest of Egypt was then undertaken. From A. 
D. 639 the 1242 years reach down to A. D. 1881, 
when a further humiliation of the Turkish power 
at Jerusalem may be looked for. 

This number of forty-two months marks the 
rise and decline of the Mohammedan power at 
Jerusalem, but it throws no light on the incep- 
tion or the utter extinction of Islamism. But, for- 
tunately, Daniel supplies a number that will do 
this : "And from the time that the daily sacri- 
fice shall be taken away, and the abomination 
that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a. 
thousand two hundred and ninety days.' 1 Dan. 
xii. 11. "The abomination that maketh desolate" 
is, doubtless, the system of religious faith and 
fanaticism that was developed and propagated 
by Mohammed and his successors ; for this blasts, 
blights and desolates every country in which it 
prevails. As the 1335 days of Daniel will prob- 
ably mark the weakening and complete over- 
throw of Komanism, so doubtless will the num- 
ber 1290 indicate the decline and final annihila- 



322 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

tion of Mohammedanism. This number must 
first be applied to the very origin of Islamism, 
which, as we show in the eighth chapter, was in 
the year 606, when Mohammed retired to the 
cave in Mount Hira, there to concoct his scheme. 
The 1290 days, or prophetic years, will be prop- 
erly "shortened" by deducting 18 from the num- 
ber, which will leave 1272 historical years ; and 
this number added to the 606 leads us down to 
the remarkable year 1878 : 1290 - 18 = 1272 + 
606 = 1878. So we see that this number exactly 
spans the interval between the inception of Mo- 
hammedanism and the beginning of its fall ; and 
doubtless the events occurring between A. D. 
606 and 639, which facilitated the growth of the 
religion and power of the False Prophet, will 
have their counterparts in the depression of the 
same system between A. D. 1878 and 1908. Their 
probable character will be noticed hereafter. 

2. The reason assigned for drying up the 
water of the Euphrates is "that the way of the 
kings of the east might be prepared." This prob- 
ably alludes to the construction of a railway, 
having branches to Palestine and Egypt (Isa, xix. 
23.), along the Euphrates Valley to the Persian 
Gulf, or, perhaps, on to India, as it was by the 
way of this valley that, prior to the discovery of 



THE SIXTH PLAGUE. 323 

the passage around the Cape of Good Hope, the 
intercourse and commerce was carried on be- 
tween Persia, India, and other eastern countries, 
and the nations of western Asia and Europe. 
Hence it is called "the way of the kings of the 
east." It will be remembered that the first re- 
ports concerning the conclusion of the Berlin 
and Anglo-Turkish treaties were accompanied 
by announcements that the building of a rail- 
way was one of the important matters decided 
upon :— u The occupation of the island of Cyprus 
gives England absolute control over the Euphra- 
tes Valley. A line of railway having this object 
in view is to be constructed soon. Any further 
encroachment of Eussia in this direction is now 
impossible. So far as Asia is concerned, Eng- 
land and Turkey are practically one power." 
And English engineers have been, and probably 
now are, surveying the route for the proposed 
railway. 

3. Another noticeable feature of the sixth 
plague is the going of "unclean spirits like frogs 
out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the 
mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the 
false prophet," which "go forth to the kings of the 
whole world, to bring them together to the bat- 
tle of that great day of God Almighty." The 



324 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

same tiling seems to be indicated by these words : 
"And the dragon was angry with the woman, 
and went away to make war with the rest of her 
children (the Christians of England) that keep 
the commandments of God, and that hold the 
testimony of Jesus.' 

The Dragon here as elsewhere is the symbol of 
despotic Monarchy ; the Beast the symbol of the 
equally despotic Papacy; and the False Prophet 
the symbol of the no less despotic Mohammedan 
polity. 

These are the rulers of this world ; but during 
the last 350 years a fourth party has become de- 
veloped into prominence which is symbolized 
by the Woman who was clothed with the 
sun. Her children are the Protestants, the 
friends of liberty, and of these there are two 
kinds: first, those who, while they protest 
against the spiritual and temporal despotism ol 
the Church and State, are still loyal subjects of 
the King of kings, and Lord of lords — that -keep 
the commandments of God and that hold the 
testimony of Jesus. These are "the saints of the 
Most High who shall take the kingdom and 
possess the kingdom forever, even forever and 
ever;" while the second kind are those, who, 
while they protest against and reject the tyrcin- 



THE SIXTH PLAGUE. 325 

nical rulers of the Church and of the State reject 
also the authority of the God of heaven, and like 
their brethren in the French Revolution, "in the 
madness of atheism publicly express their de- 
termination to dethrone the King of Heaven as 
well as the monarchs of the earth." These are 
the Communists of France, the Socialists of Ger- 
many, the Nihilists of Russia, etc. — the clay, 
which in "the battle of that great day of Cod 
Almighty" will be crushed to powder, and blown 
away by the wind of heaven. Many of the first 
class, the woman brought with her to America, 
while "the rest of her children" remained in 
Europe, and they are now mostly found among 
the Nonconformists and Dissenters of the British 
Isles, where they protest alike against Popery 
and Prelacy, acknowledge no spiritual Head but 
Christ, and do not practice lewdness with the 
civil power. With these the dragon will make 
war. 

According to Dan. xii. 11, 12, at the time when 
the beast (the Papacy) had his body (temporal 
power) destroyed, in A. D. 1870, u the rest of the 
beasts (the ten monarchies of Europe) had their 
dominion (despotic authority) taken away : yet 
their lives were prolonged for a season and time," 
that is, they continued to exist for awhile as con- 



326 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

stitutional monarchies. And since that time the 
False Prophet has had his dominion taken away, 
yet his life also is prolonged for a time. Yet 
there is one dragon, an absolute monarch, still 
reigning in undimmed splendor — the "Autocrat 
of all the Russias," whose dominions were never 
included in the Roman Empire, and hence he is 
not one of those who had their dominion taken 
away ; and yet, doubtless, it is he wiio will play 
the part of the dragon in the great drama that 
is soon to open upon the earth. 

Having been struck by the "stone cut out of 
the mountain without hands," these three earth- 
ly fabrics have been shaken and shattered to 
their very foundation, but before their final fall 
another desperate effort is to be made to regain 
their former solidity. Hence the Dragon, Beast, 
and False Prophet will send out their embassa- 
dors, emissaries, envoys, and legates, that, by 
diplomacy, intrigue, and treachery, they may 
make such combinations, alliances, and treaties, 
as will prepare them to undertake the subjuga- 
tion or destruction of their oppressors, rivals, 
and enemies. 

It is impossible to foretell what combinations 
will be effected, but we may suppose (a) that the 
Czar of Russia will unite with the more conser- 



THE SIXTH PLAGUE. 327 

vative monarchs, those of Germany and Austria, 
to maintain their favorite doctrine of the "divine 
rights of kings," and to put down Communism, 
Socialism, Nihilism, Democracy, Republicanism, 
and all other attempts of the clay to resist the 
iron, (b), That the Czar, as the head of the Greek 
Church, will combine with the Pope, the head of 
the Roman Church, to put down Protestantism, 
and especially to crush Protestant England, in 
which are "the rest of the children!'' of the Woman, 
upon whose Asiatic possessions the former looks 
with longing eyes, and whose attempts to estab- 
lish British power and Christianity upon the 
ruins of Islamism, both Czar and Pope will re- 
gard with disfavor, and endeavor to thwart ; (c), 
that Russia will seek to form alliances with Per- 
sia, Tartary, Afghanistan, and other Mohammed- 
an countries, court the friendship and aid of 
China, acquire control of Asiatic and European 
Turkey, and excite the people of India against 
the British, (d), That the Pope will try to enlist 
in his cause many of the kings of the earth, and 
endeavor, through the influence of the Jesuits, 
Franciscans, Dominicans and the aid of many 
special legates, to employ his vast hierarchy of 
122 vicars apostolic, 183 archbishops, and 693 
bishops, stationed throughout the world, to mar- 



328 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

shal in his behalf his mighty host of 200,000,000 
adherents, who, in their blindness, bigotry and 
superstition, acknowledge allegiance to no power, 
prince or potentate on earth, but the pretended 
"Vicar of Christ," (e), That the Sultan, supported 
by England, will endeavor to secure the co-opera- 
tion of all the Moslems throughout the world— 
in Turkey, in Asia and in Europe; in Egypt, 
Nubia, Abyssinia, Barbary, Algiers, Morocco and 
elsewhere in Africa ; in Persia, Arabia, Tartary. 
Afghanistan, Beloochistan, Hindostan, China, 
and other countries of Asia, (f ), That England, 
as an ally of the Sultan, and having Russia and 
the Pope against her, will sooner or later call for 
assistance from the Protestant States of Europe, 
and finally from the United States of America. 
And (g), that the Communists, Socialists and 
Nihilists (three unclean spirits) will perfect an 
organization among themselves and endeavor to 
secure the co-operation of all the oppressed mil- 
lions of Europe in a grand and final crusade 
against all rulers, governments and privileged 
classes, and re-enact in every city and town the 
terrible scenes of the French Revolution. 

This probably indicates something of the work 
that will be done by the "unclean spirits" that 
will "go forth to the kings of the world, to bring 



THE SIXTH PLAGUE. 329 

them together to the battle of that great day of 
God Almighty." And these operations, to some 
extent, are now in progress, which is evidenced by 
Russia's sending the Oimhria to the United States, 
and an embassy to Cabul, the capital of Afghan- 
istan ; the activity of the Communists, Socialists 
and Nihilists, and their attempts upon the lives 
of so many monarchs ; the many interviews and 
conferences of the crowned heads ; and the per- 
sistent efforts of the Pope to adjust his difficul- 
ties with Germany, and other States of Europe. 
It is reported that the Pope has threatened that 
if the monarchs do not accede to his wishes, he 
will make common cause with the people against 
their rulers. Not long since the "Supreme Vicar 
of Christ" placed Cardinal McCloskey, one of his 
"temporal princes" in New York, and recently a 
special legate has been sent from Rome to super- 
intend the Romish hierarchy in this country. 
The interference of the priests with the politics 
and common schools of the United States in- 
dicates what the Roman anaconda will try to do 
with this republic when its coils are more com- 
pletely adjusted. 

Did not the Berlin Congress say, "Peace and 
safety V Yes, but sudden destruction will come; 
and unless we misinterpret the prophecies, the 



330 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

next forty years will witness such scenes of car- 
nage and devastation as this poor world has 
never beheld : for doubtless the treading of the 
"wine-press of the wrath of God" is near at hand. 
4. Applicable to this time of preparation for 
"the battle of that great day of God Almighty" 
is the warning that Christ gives. to His followers : 
"Behold, I come as a thief : blessed is he that 
watches, and keeps his garments, that he may 
not walk naked, and that men may not see his 
nakedness." Rev. xvi. 15. This locates Christ's 
second coming in the period of the sixth plague, 
in which we are now living. He now comes, (a), 
to reap His harvest, the wheat grown among the 
tares. Matt, xiii. 36-43. This harvest is referred 
to in Rev. xiv. 14-16 : "And I saw, and behold, a 
white cloud, and on the cloud sat one like the 
Son of Man, who had on his head a crown of 
gold, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And 
another angel came out of the temple, and cried 
with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud : 
Thrust in your sickle and reap, for the time has 
come for you to reap, for the harvest of the earth 
is fully ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust 
in his sickle on the earth, and the earth was 
reaped." This doubtless alludes to the time of 
the fust resurrection, when the dead and living 



THE SIXTH PLAGUE. 331 

saints, the precious wheat that has ripened and 
fallen to the earth, as well as that still standing, 
shall be gathered into the granary of the Son of 
Man, as described in 1 Thess. iv. 15-17 : "For this 
we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we, 
the living, who remain till the coming of the 
Lord, shall not precede those who are asleep : for 
the Lord himself will descend from heaven with 
a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and 
with the trump of God ; and the dead in Christ 
shall arise first ; then we. the living who remain, 
shall, together with them, be caught up in clouds 
into the air to meet the Lord, and so shall we be 
ever with the Lord." 

"Say, are you ready, O are you ready ? 

If the archangel should call. 
Say, are you ready, O are you ready ? 

Mercy's now waiting for all." 

Christ now comes, (b), to institute the judgment 
of the nations, — to "gather all nations and bring 
them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat" (Joel 
iii. 2.), "to take vengeance on those who know 
not God, and who obey not the gospel of our 
Lord Jesus Christ ;" (2 Thess. i. 8.) to inaugurate 
the seventh plague, "that great day of God Al- 
mighty," and the treading of "the great wine- 
press of the wrath of God." 



332 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

To this present time also applies the message 
of the third angel (Rev. xiv. 9-11.) : "If any one 
worship the beast and his image, and receive his 
mark in his forehead, or in his hand, even he shall 
drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is 
prepared without mixture in the cup of his in- 
dignation," etc. 

"The world is very evil, 

The times are waxing late : 
Be sober and keep vigil, 

The Judge is at the gate ; 
The Judge that comes in mercy, 

The Judge that comes with might, 
To terminate the evil, 

To diadem the right. 

Arise, arise, good Christian, 

Let right to wrong succeed ; 
Let penitential sorrow 

To heavenly gladness lead, 
To light that hath no evening, 

That knows no moon nor sun, 
The light so new and golden, 

The light that is but one." 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE SEVENTH PLAGUE. 



1883-1923. 



"And the seventh angel poured out his cup into the air; and 
there came a great voice from the temple of heaven, from the 
throne, saying ; It is done. And there were lightnings and 
voices and thunders ; and there was a great earthquake, such 
as has not been since men were on the earth, — so great an 
earthquake, and so mighty. And the great city was divided 
into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell : and Babylon 
the great was remembered before God, that he might give her 
the cup of the wine of His fiercest wrath. And every island 
fled, and the mountains were not found. And great hail, every 
stone about the weight of a talent, fell from heaven upon men; 
and men spoke impiously against God, because of the plague 
of the hail : for the plague of it was very great." Eev. xvi. 12- 
16. 

Like the events of the former plagues, those of 
the seventh are briefly described in highly figu- 
rative and symbolical language ; and as the 
events of the former plagues, though described 
in few words, were many, and occupied several 
years, we should not suppose that the seventh 
plague will consist of one great battle of a few 
days, or even months, duration, but rather seek 



834 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

to learn what the Scriptures teach upon this im- 
portant subject. 

1. We may be assured that all the predicted 
calamities now unacccmplished will be crowded 
into the final member of the "seven plagues 
which are the last ; for by them the wrath of God 
is brought to an end." Kev. xv. 1. 

2. The going forth of the unclean spirits will 
eventuate in a series of unprecedented calamities, 
for "there shall be a time of trouble, such as never 
was since there was a nation, even to that same 
time." Dan. xii. 1. And 

3. The final result will be the complete over- 
throw and disintegration of all political and reli- 
gious institutions and governments, especially of 
Europe, for there shall be "a great earthquake 
(political and religious convulsion), such as has 
not been since men were on the earth,— so great 
an earthquake, and so mighty. And the great 
city (Romanism) was divided into three parts, 
and the cities of the nations fell : and Babylon 
the great (the Papal Church) was remembered 
before God, that he might give her the cup of 
the wine of his fiercest wrath. And every island 
fled, and the mountains were not found," — 
every nation disorganized, and government abol- 
ished 



THE SEVENTH PLAGUE. 335 

4 The seventh plague affects the air, a univer- 
sal, all-pervading element ; which signifies that 
while the former plagues were local, the seventh is 
to involve the whole world. Thb idea is expressed 
in Joel iii. 1 : "I will gather all nations, said bring 
them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat,"— the 
place of the judgment of God ; and in Eev. xvi. 
14 : "And they go forth to the kings (kingdoms 
or nations) of ike ivhole world to bring them to- 
gether to the battle of that great day of God Al- 
mighty." 

We may seek answers to the following ques- 
tions : 

1. When will these awful transactions begin? 
We shall defer to the twentieth chapter the con- 
sideration of the chronology of the events of this 
time. But we may notice here that from the 
close connection subsisting between the fifth and 
sixth plagues — the former, the time of prepara- 
tion and commencement, the latter, that of the 
execution and completion; the former, relating 
to the begun overthrow of Ottoman power, the 
latter, to the total suppression of the Turkish 
empire, we may reasonably suppose that the 
events attending the destruction of Islamism 
will constitute a counterpart of those attending 
its propagation — the same, as we have seen, was 



336 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS 

the case with the Papacy. And we must bear in 
mind also that not only the False Prophet, but 
the Dragon, the Beast and the men of liberty, 
both Infidel and Christian, are to play their parts 
in the great drama that is soon to burst upon the 
slumbering world ; and hence all these must have 
some accommodation as to time. 

As being of much less value than Scripture 
statements, but still of interest in this connec- 
tion, we insert the following respecting the ap- 
proaching planetary perihelia, and the prophetic 
significance of the Great Pyramid of Egypt : 

"According to the Science of Health, a medical 
journal, the ensuing seven years will be a period 
of war, famine and pestilence upon the face of 
the earth, superinduced by celestial causes. It 
is noted that the period of woe unto mankind 
has already set in, as witness the recent famines 
in China and India, the phenomenal tidal waves 
and marine earthquake in the South Pacific, the 
ominous mutterings of wars and rumors of wars 
in Europe and Asia, the yellow fever epidemic 
in our own country, and the skeleton footprints 
of cholera advancing westward across the North 
African desert. The cause of these alarming dis- 
turbances in the physical world is stated by the 
Science of Health to be the approaching simul- 



THE SEVENTH PLAGUE. 337 

taneous perihelion of the four largest planets' of 
our solar system, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and 
Neptune. During the terrestrial year of 1880-81, 
these four planets will make their nearest ap- 
proach to the sun all at once, and it is predicted 
that the result will be a serious modification of 
the atmospheric and organic conditions of our 
globe It has been determined by astronomical 
calculus that these four great planets were in 
simultaneous perihelion a little over 4,000 years 
ago, or at a period coeval with the scriptural 
date of the deluge; and many astronomical 
scientists maintain that the event was brought 
about by the extraordinary celestial influences 
under consideration." — Washington Post. 

The Great Pyramid, of Egypt has of late re- 
ceived much attention from learned men, and 
some of the conclusions arrived at are : (a), That 
this remarkable structure was built about the 
year B. C. 2170, by Philitis, Melchizedec, Job, or 
some other chosen man, under the direct inspira- 
tion and superintendence of the Great Architect 
of the Universe, to be, among other things, a 
symbolical prophecy relating to the commence- 
ment, progress and termination of the Christian 
dispensation; (b\ that in the external and inter- 
nal construction of the Great Pyramid there are 



338 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

e violences of wisdom and knowledge of the heav- 
ens and the earth surpassing that of the scientists 
of the present day ; and (c), that its mysterious 
passages, chambers and galleries allude to the 
different eras of the world's history. 

"The feature of chief interest to us is the 
Grand Gallery, which Prof. Smyth and his co-la- 
borers hold to be a prophetic record of the Chris- 
tian era commencing with the birth of Jesus 
Christ, and ending with His return a second 
time to take His believing ones out of the world; 
which thereafter passes through 'the great trib- 
ulation,' and then emerges into the grand mil- 
lennial glory, of which the King's Chamber is 
held to be a type. ... At once the great 
question springs up, How long is the Christian 
era to be ? and, with all the 'if 's' properly certified, 
the Grand Gallery of the Great Pyramid an- 
swers : Eighteen hundred and eighty-one years ; 
for that is the number of pyramid inches, as 
measured along its ascending floor." — Christian 
Advocate, June 27, 1878. 

Thus it seems that the starry heavens, the 
rocky Pyramid, and "the sure word of prophecy" 
concur in designating the immediate future as 
the commencement of a period of terrible calam- 
ities to the inhabitants of the earth. 



THE SEVENTH PLAGUE. 339 

2. Who will be engaged in the conflicts ? The 
answer to this question was indicated in the last 
chapter — the Dragon, or the monarchical party, 
led by Russia ; the Beast, or the Papists, directed 
by the Pope ; the False Prophet, or the Moham- 
medan polity, perhaps supported by England; and 
the friends of liberty, both infidel and Christian. 

One bone of contention will doubtless be the 
"sick man's estate," or the territories of the dying 
Turkish empire ; and here, "where the carcass is, 
will the vultures come together." Russia's en- 
deavors to seize Turkey will be opposed by Eng- 
land and her allies, and the consequent general 
wars will constitute a large part of the great 
battle of Armageddon. The Papists, allied with 
the monarchs, or with their rebellious subjects, 
may attempt to gain that control of the world to 
which the doctrine of Pontifical Infallibility en- 
titles "Our Lord God the Pope." The Turks will 
fight on the defensive against the aggressions of 
Russia. The Communists, Socialists and Nihil- 
ists will doubtless play a horrible part in the 
desolating transactions of these sad times. A 
fifth party, the Israelites, will be deeply inter- 
ested in the commotions of* these days, for by 
them the way will be opened for their return to 
the land of their fathers. 



340 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

There is scarcely another period that is the 
subject of so many prophecies as the time of the 
seventh plague, "that great clay of God Al- 
mighty." We will now indicate some predicted 
events, and the results to follow : "Thou sawest 
till that a stone was cut out without hands, 
which smote the image (Nebuchadnezzar's mon- 
archical image) upon its feet (modern Europe) 
that were of iron (monarchical power) and clay 
(democracy) and brake them in pieces. Then 
was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and 
the gold broken to pieces together, and became 
like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors ; 
and the wind carried them away, that no place 
was found for them : and the stone that smote 
the image became a great mountain, and filled 
the whole earth." Dan. ii. 34, 35. 

As was suggested in a former chapter, the stone 
cut out of the mountain without hands, and the 
Woman that flew into the wilderness (Rev. xii. 14), 
correspond in so far as that the two symbols re- 
late to the same event, the fleeing of the Puritans 
to America, but differ in that the former alludes 
mainly to the principle of popular civil govern- 
ment in which eveny man should render allegi- 
ance and obedience to the "King of kings and 
Lord of lords," and the latter to the condition of 



THE SEVENTH PLAGUE. 341 

the true Christian Church — the Woman — the 
spouse of Christ, as having no other lord or 
husband during the absence of her heavenly 
Bridegroom. 

These two principles, civil and religious liberty, 
have come hand in hand down through the ages 
from the time of their enunciation by the Savior 
of man in these words : "You know that the 
rulers of the G-entiles act as lords over them, and 
their great men Jiave authority over them. It 
shall not be so among you. But whosoever will be 
great among you, let him be your minister. And 
whosoever will be first among you, let him be 
your servant." Matt. xx. 24-26. This is an impor- 
tant section of the constitution of the kingdom 
of heaven, which teaches that he is the greatest 
who serves and benefits his fellows the most. And 
this stone being crushed by the ponderous iron, 
brass, silver and gold of monarchical Europe was 
brought, by divine intervention, to America, 
where being built into that immortal monument, 
the Declaration of Independence, ( u We hold these 
truths to be self-evident, that all men are created 
equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator 
with certain inalienable rights ; that among these 
are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"), it 
has grown, so that now its oscillations make the 



342 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

whole world tremble ; and by it "the iron, the 
clay, the brass, the silver and the gold will soon 
be broken in pieces together, and become like the 
chaff of the summer threshing floors ; and the 
wind will carry them away, that no place will be 
found for them." But the question might be 
asked, Does not this indicate the success of 
Socialism, Communism, and Nihilism, which are, 
in some degree, the outgrowths of American, or 
rather Christian liberty? To which we reply, 
No ; the Socialists, Communists, and Nihilists are 
the clay, which, while resisting their earthly 
rulers, reject, deny and blaspheme the God of 
heaven, and although used by Him as blind in- 
struments in destroying oppressive monarchy 
and aristocracy, they, the clay, will eventually 
be crushed finer, and by the wind of God's wrath 
be carried further than the heavier metallic dust. 
These words indicate the result to follow : u And 
the stone that smote the image became a great 
mountain, and filled the whole earth," signifying 
that nations and states of God-fearing men, mak- 
ing and executing their own civil laws on the 
basis of Christian principle,— true republics- 
shall supercede the present civil polities of the 
world, and constitute the realms of Him "whose 
dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall 



THE SEVENTH PLAGUE. 343 

not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall 
not be destroyed." 

But we are not to suppose that this favored 
land will be exempt from the fire of that day 
"that shall burn as an oven ; and all the proud, 
yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble : 
and the day that cometh shall burn them up, 
saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them 
neither root nor branch." Although the stone 
has already fallen upon African slavery, there 
yet remains the monstrous evils of intemperance, 
infidelity, popery, political and social corruption, 
Sabbath desecration, profanity, and many other 
things offensive to Him "who is of purer eyes 
than to behold iniquity." And hence we may 
expect that the United States will have to pass 
through the furnace of affliction to remove her 
dross before she is prepared to fulfil her mission 
to the other nations of the earth. Her enemies 
are the rum party, the Papists, and the Commun- 
ists, and these, doubtless, will be the fuel to feed 
the fires of her refining. "When properly pre- 
pared, and at the appointed time, the stone will 
strike the final blow that will complete the des- 
truction of Nebuchadnezzar's image. 

After the woman flew into the wilderness that 
she might be "away from the presence of the 



3-M THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

serpent" (monarchical and Papal Europe) "the 
serpent threw out of his mouth water like a river" 
(Papistical colonies, hostile armies, African slaves, 
votaries of Papal errors, superstitions, and vices, 
atheism, infidelity, irreligion, Communism, So- 
cialism, and other outgrowths of corrupt and 
oppressive forms of government and religion), 
yet the earth (this republic) has already opened 
its mouth and swallowed up the dragon's colo- 
nies, his hostile armies, chattel slaves, and much 
of the ignorance and vice brought hither by his 
foul waters ; and after it shall have swallowed 
up what remains here, it will strike the sources of 
these evils on the other side, and make them like 
the chaff of the summer threshing floors. 

The time of the seventh plague is characterized 
as the great harvest of the world: "Proclaim ye 
this among the Gentiles : Prepare war, wake up 
the mighty men, let all the men of war draw 
near, let them come up : Beat your plowshares 
into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears: 
let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble your- 
selves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather 
yourselves together round about : thither cause 
thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. Let the 
heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley 
of Jehoshaphat, for there will I sit to judge all 



THE SEVENTH PLAGUE. 345 

the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle : 
for the harvest is ripe : come, get you down ; for 
the press is full, the fats overflow : for their 
wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in 
the valley of decision : for the day of the Lord 
is near in the valley of decision." Joel iii. 9-14. 

"And another angel came out of the temple 
that is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. 
And another angel that had power over fire, 
came out from the altar : and cried with a loud 
cry to him that had the sharp sickle, and said : 
Thrust in your sickle, and gather the clusters of 
the vine of the earth, for its grapes are fully ripe. 
And the angel thrust in his sickle on the earth, 
and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it 
into the great wine-press of the wrath of God. 
And the wine-press was trodden without the 
city : and blood came out of the wine-press, even 
to the bridles of the horses, to the distance of a 
thousand and six hundred furlongs." Rev. xiv. 
17-20. 

"As therefore, the tares are collected and 
burned in fire, so shall it be in the end of this 
age. The Son of man will send forth his angels, 
and collect out of his kingdom all things that 
offend, and those that work iniquity, and cast 
them into the furnace of fire: there shall be 



846 THE PROPHETIC LUMBERS. 

weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the 
righteous shine forth as the sun, in the kingdom 
of their Father." Matt, xiii. 

"Most awful truth ! And is it so? 

Must all the world this harvest know? 
Is every man a wheat or tare? 

Then for the harvest, oh, prepare :— 
For soon the reaping time will come, 

And angels shout their harvest home." 

In the last chapter we notice that, according to 
Kev. xiv. 14-16, the Son of Man, the Blessed 
Jesns, will soon appear in the clouds to reap His 
harvest, and preserve the precious wheat to be 
finally gathered into His granary, the millennial 
kingdom. In the twentieth chapter it will be in- 
dicated that 40 years will intervene between 
Christ's harvest, at the first resurrection, and the 
time when "the saints of the Most High shall 
take the kingdom." During this interval will oc- 
cur the judgment of the nations in the valley 
of Jehoshaphat ; the gathering of the clusters of 
the vine of the earth,— the Imperial, Papal, and 
Moslem nations, communities, and fraternities, 
and crushing them in the great wine-press of the 
wrath of God ; and the collecting, and casting 
"into the furnace of fire," "all things that offend, 
and those that work iniquity." And after the 
expiration of the 40 years "shall the righteous 



THE SEVENTH PLAGUE. 347 

shine f ortli as the sun in the kingdom of their 
Father." 

It will be during this "time of trouble, such as 
never was since there was a nation even to that 
same time," that the way will be fully prepared 
for the return of Daniel's people, the Jews, to the 
land of their fathers ; but the chief obstacles 
will be removed by events occuring near the be- 
ginning of the 40 years, and then the Israelites 
will repair in large numbers to Palestine, taking 
their immense wealth with them. When a 
goodly number shall have settled there, and 
reached a prosperous condition, the avarice of 
the Czar of Eussia will induce him to organize a 
mighty host to invade and plunder the Holy 
Land ; and by this means will be brought about 
some of those terrible conflicts of the seventh 
plague. These conflicts are alluded to in many 
places in the Holy Scriptures, but the fullest de- 
scription of them seems to be given in the 38th 
and 39th chapters of Ezekiel, where the ancient 
names of the nations that will participate are 
clearly given: "And the word of the Lord came 
unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against 
Gog (of) the land of Magog, the chief prince of 
Meshech and Tubal, (or the prince of Rosh, 
Meshech, and Tubal) and prophesy against him, 



348 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

and say, thus saitli the Lord God: Behold, I 
am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Me- 
shech and Tubal ; (the prince of Bosh, Meshech 
and Tubal) and I will turn thee back, and put 
hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, 
and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of 
them clothed with all sorts of armor, even a 
great company with bucklers and shields, all of 
them handling swords. Persia, Ethiopia, and 
Libya with them; all of them with shield and 
helmet; Gomer, and all his bands ; the house of 
Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his 
bands; and many people with thee. Be thou 
prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all 
thy company that are assembled unto thee, and 
be thou a guard unto them." Ezek. xxxviii. 1-7. 
The above "prince of Bosh, Meshech and 
Tubal," agrees with the rendering given by the 
LXX. and other able translators, and doubtless 
Bussia is the modern name for "Bosh," and by 
"the prince of Bosh, Meshech, and Tubal," the 
Czar of Bussia is signified, as the person to whom 
the foregoing and the following words of the 
prophet are addressed : "After many days thou 
slia.lt be visited : in the latter years thou shalt 
come into the land that is brought *back from the 
sword, and is gathered out of many people, 



THE SEVENTH PLAGUE. 349 

against the mountains of Israel, which have been 
always waste : but it is brought forth out of 
the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of 
them. Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm; 
thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, 
and all thy bands, and many people with thee. 
Thus saith the Lord God , It shall also come to 
pass, that at the same time shall things come into 
thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought : 
And thou shalt say, I will go to them that are at 
rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling with- 
out walls, and having neither bars nor gates, to 
take a spoil, and to take a prey ; to turn thine 
hand upon the desolate places that are now in- 
habited, and upon the people that are gathered 
out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and 
goods, that dwell in the midst of the land." 
Verses 8-11. 

When the Czar and his confederates shall have 
invaded Palestine, his purposes will be perceived, 
and he will be confronted by the friends and 
protectors of the Jgws, here called "Sheba, and 
Dedan, and the merchants of Tarsliish, with all 
the young lions thereof." By these names the 
people of the Anglo-Indian Empire are evidently 
designated ; and these will say to the Czar, "Art 
thou come to take a spoil ? hast thou gathered 



350 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

thy company to take a prey ? to carry away silver 
and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take 
a great spoil ?" Verse 13. 

Then will begin the terrible slaughter that will 
result in the complete overthrow of the mighty 
hosts of the royal plunderers, according to the 
following words of the prophet : "Therefore, son 
of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith 
the Lord God ; In that day when my people Is- 
rael dwell safely, shalt thou not know it? And 
thou shalt come from thy place out of the north 
parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of 
them riding upon horses, a great company, and a 
mighty army: and thou shalt come up against 
my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land ; 
it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring 
thee against my land, that the heathen may 
know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O 
Gog, before their eyes. Thus saith the Lord God ; 
Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time 
by my servants the prophets of Israel, which 
prophesied in those days many years that I would 
bring thee against them ? And it shall come to 
pass at the same time when Gog shall come 
against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, 
that my fury shall come up into my face. . . . 
And I will call for a sword against him through- 



THE SEVENTH PLAGUE. 351 

out all my mountains, saitli the Lord God ; every 
man's sword shall be against his brother. And I 
will plead against him with pestilence and with 
blood ; and I will rain upon him and upon his 
bands, and upon the many people that are with 
him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, 
fire and brimstone (the rifle shot, cannon balls, 
bombs and gunpowder smoke, of modern war- 
fare). Thus will I magnify myself ; and I will 
be known in the eyes of many nations, and they 
shall know that I am the Lord." (verses 14-23.) 
u Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, 
thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is 
with thee : I will give thee unto the ravenous 
birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field, 
to be devoured. . . And it shall come to 
pass in that day that I will give unto Gog a place 
there of graves in Israel, the valley of the pass- 
engers on the east of the sea ; and it shall stop 
the noses of the passengers ; and there shall they 
bury Gog, and all his multitude ; and they shall 
call it, The Valley of Hamon-gog." Ch. xxxix. 4, 
11. 

This signal destruction of their enemies will 
open the eyes of the Israelites, so that they will 
recognize the hand of God in their deliverance : 
"So the house of Israel shall know that I am the 



352 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

Lord their God from that day forward. And the 
heathen shall know that the house of Israel went 
into captivity for their iniquity: because they 
trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face 
from them, and gave them into the hand of their 
enemies ; so fell they all by the sword. . . . 
Therefore, thus saith the Lord God ; Now will I 
bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have 
mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and I will 
be jealous for my holy name. . . When I 
have brought them again from the people, and 
gathered them out of their enemies 1 lands, and 
am sanctified in them in the sight of many na- 
tions , then shall they know that I am the Lord 
their God, which caused them to be led into cap- 
tivity among the heathen : but I have gathered 
them into their ownjand, and have left none of 
them any more there. Neither will I hide my 
face any more from them : for I have poured out 
my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the 
Lord God." Ezek. xxxix. 22-29. 



CHAPTEE XX. 

THE KECONSTRUCTKXN". 

"How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice 
and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary 
and the host to be trodden under foot ? And he said unto me, 
Unto two thousand and three hundred days,- then shall the 
sanctuary be cleansed." Dan. viii. 13, 14. 

"And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken 
away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there 
shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. 

Blessed is he that waiteth,and cometh to the thousand three 
hundred and five and thirty days." Dan. xii. 11, 12. 

In this chapter we shall endeavor to trace the 
divine plan for the recovery and reconstruction 
of our sin-cursed world, and the divine system of 
chronology by which the prophets have indicated 
the important events to occur. To exhibit these 
more fully we will first briefly review the past, 
and then, led by our infallible guide, the "sure 
word of prophecy," advance into the future. 

In the infinite love of the Divine Father origi- 
nated the wonderful plan for the salvation of the 
degenerate sons of Adam by the incarnation, in- 
struction, sacrificial and vicarious death, resur- 
rection, and intercession at the throne of the 



354 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

heavenly grace, of our Lord Jesus Christ. "For 
God so loved the world that he gave his only be- 
gotten Son, that whoever believes on him should 
not perish, but have eternal life." John iii. 16. 
The Christian age began with the advent of 
Jesus Christ, and His herald, John the Baptist. 
Concerning the latter Isaiah says : "The voice of 
him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the 
way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a 
highway for our God ;" and Malachi : "Behold, 
I will send you Elijah the prophet before the 
coming of the great and dreadful day of the 
Lord." The historical fulfilment of these proph- 
ecies is recorded by Luke : "And Zachariah was 
troubled at the sight (of the angel Gabriel), and 
fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him : 
Fear not, Zachariah ; for your prayer is heard, 
and your wife Elizabeth shall bear you a son, 
and you shall call his name John. And you shall 
have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at 
his birth. . . . And many of the sons of Israel 
shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he 
shall go before him in the spirit and power of 
Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the 
children, and the disobedient, by the wisdom of 
the just, in order to make ready for the Lord a 
prepared people. . . . Now the time for Eliza- 



THE RECONSTRUCTION. 355 

betli to be delivered had fully come ; and she 
gave birth to a son. . . . And Zachariah his 
father was rilled with the Holy Spirit, and proph- 
esied, saying: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; 
for he has visited and redeemed his people. . . . 
And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the 
Most High : for you shall go before the face of 
the Lord, to make ready his ways, by giving to 
his people the knowledge of salvation in the re- 
mission of their sins." Luke i. 12-77. 

The advent of Christ is thus foretold by Isaiah: 
"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a 
sign : Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a 
son, and shall call his name Immanuel." "For 
unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given : 
and the government shall be upon his shoulder : 
and his name shall be called Wonderful, Coun- 
sellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, 
The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his gov- 
ernment and peace there shall be no end, upon 
the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to 
order it, and to establish it with judgment and 
justice from henceforth even for ever." Isa. vii. 
14 ; and ix. 6, 7. 

And Luke narrates the fulfilment of these 
prophecies in these words : "And in the sixth 
month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into 



63b THE PROPHETIC NUMBEPvS. 

a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin 
betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of 
the house of David ; and the name of the virgin 
was Mary. And the angel came into her pres- 
ence and said : Hail, graciously accepted : the 
Lord is with yon ; blessed are yon among women. 
And she was perplexed at his words, and reas- 
oned, what this salutation could mean. And the 
angel said to her : Fear not, Mary ; for you have 
found favor with God. And behold, you shall 
conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name 
Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the 
Son of the Most High * and the Lord God will 
give to him the throne of David his father ; and 
he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, 
and of his kingdom there shall be no end." "And 
Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the 
city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, 
which is called Bethlehem (for he was of the 
house and family of David), to be enrolled with 
Mary his betrothed wife, who was with child. 
And it came to pass while they were there, that 
the days for her to be delivered were completed; 
and she brought forth her first born son ; and 
wrapped him in swathing clothes, and laid him 
in the stable, because there was no place for them 
in the inn.. And there were in the same country 



THE RECONSTRUCTION. 357 

shepherds, living in the open field, and guarding 
their flocks by night. And, behold, an angel of 
the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the 
Lord shone round about them ; and they were 
greatly afraid. And the angel said to them : Be 
not afraid ; for, behold, I bring you good news 
of great joy, which shall be to all people. For 
there is born for you this day, in the city of 
David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And 
this shall be to you the sign : you will find the 
babe wrapped in swathing clothes, and lying in 
a stable. And suddenly there was with the 
angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising 
God, and saying : Glory to God in the highest, 
and on earth peace, good will among men." Luke 
i. 26-33; and ii. 4-14. 

Now if Jesus of Nazareth were "the Messiah 
the Prince," of whom the Jewish prophets wrote 
and sang, we might expect to find the important 
events of His life to constitute a typical and 
chronological basis of the history of the Christian 
dispensation. And, on the other hand, if in this 
chapter it shall be shown that the prominent 
events in the life of Jesus Christ do constitute 
the foundation upon which subsequent history 
has been built, it will afford such proof of the 
divinity of the Son of Man, as ought to cause 



358 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

every doubting Thomas to exclaim : "My Lord 
and my God !" and every son of Jacob to say : 
"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." 

Before proceeding we must prepare the foun- 
dation, by fixing the dates at which the principal 
events of the life of Christ took place. 

Being fully aware that here we enter a battle 
ground of historical critics, we shall endeavor 
not to provoke an encounter with any occupant 
of the field, but will take the position that we 
deem the most defensible, and so fortify it that 
in the future it shall be unassailable. 

The birth of our Lord is placed in B. C. 1, by 
Pearson and Hug ; B. C. 2, by Scaliger ; B. C. 3, 
by Baronius, Calvisius, Suskind, and Paulus ; B. 
C. 4, by Lamy, Bengel, Anger, Wieseler, and Gres- 
well ; B. C. 5 by Usher and Petavius ; B. C. 7 by 
Ideler and Sanclemente." — Smith's lie', of Bible. 

As the date of our Lord's birth we adopt the 
year B. C. 5, as determined by Usher and Peta- 
vius ; but we consider the incipiency of the 
Christian age to have been in B. C. 6, with the 
announcement to Zachariah of the birth of John 
the Baptist, and to the Virgin Mary of the ad- 
vent of her divine Son. Hence we lay the years 
B. C. 6 and 5 as the first corner stone of the foun- 
dation of our historical edifice. 



THE KECONSTRUCTIOISr. 359 

The next great event in the life of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, was His baptism by John in the 
Jordan, when "on coming up from the water he 
saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a 
dove descending upon him. And there was a 
voice from the heavens : Thou art my beloved 
Son, in whom I delight." Mark i. 10, 11. Isaiah 
alludes to this event thus : "Behold, my servant, 
whom I uphold : mine elect, in whom my soul 
delighteth. I have put my Spirit upon him : he 
shall bring forth judgment to the G-entiles." Isa. 
xlii. 1. The baptism of Jesus took place in the 
year A- D. 26, soon after He attained the age of 
thirty. So we place A. D. 26 as the second corner 
stone of our foundation. 

The third great epoch in our Savior's mission 
on the earth was that of His crucifixion, resurrec- 
tion, and ascension. Of this, the dates given by 
chronologists vary from A. D. 29-35. "Wieseler, 
Bishop Ellicott, Dr. P. Holmes, etc., place it on 
the 7th of April, A. D. 30." The year A. 1>. 30 is 
here adopted as the time of the crucifixion, resur- 
rection, and ascension of our Lord, and the de- 
scent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. And these 
events constitute the third corner of our founda- 
tion. 

Some of the Old Testament prophecies and cor- 



3C0 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

responding New Testament history relating to 
these important circumstances is as follows: 

The Crucifixion. "Surely he hath borne our 
griefs, and carried our sorrows : yet we did es- 
teem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he 
was bruised for our iniquities ; the chastisement 
of our peace was upon him : and with his stripes 
we are healed. . . He was taken from prison 
and from judgment: and who shall declare his 
generation? for he was cut off out of the land of 
the living : for the transgressions of my people 
was he stricken." Isa. liii. 4, 5, 8. "And Pilate 
answered and said again to them : What, then, 
do you wish me to do with him whom you call 
the King of the Jews ? They again cried out : 
Crucify him ! But Pilate said to them : Why, 
what evil has he done ? But they cried vehem- 
ently . Crucify him ! And Pilate, willing to 
gratify the multitude, released to them Barabbas: 
and delivered Jesus, after he had scourged him, 
to be crucified. . . . And when they had de- 
rided him, they took off the purple from him, 
and put his own clothes upon him, and led him 
out to crucify him. . . . And it was the third 
hour, and they crucified him. . . . And with 
him they crucified two robbers, one on his right 



THE KE CONSTRUCTION". 361 

hand, and the other on the left. And the Scrip- 
ture was fulfilled, which says: And he was 
numbered with transgressors. . . . And when 
the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over 
the whole land, till the ninth hour. And at the 
ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying : 
Eloi, Eloi, lamma sabachthani ! which is, when 
translated, My God, my God, why hast thou for- 
saken me ! . . . And when the centurion that 
was standing opposite saw that he thus cried 
out, and gave up his spirit, he said : Truly, this 
man was the Son of God." Mark xv. 12-39. 

The Resurrection. "For thou wilt not leave my 
soul in hell : neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy 
One to see corruption." Psal. xvi. 10. "And after 
the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first 
day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other 
Mary came to see the sepulchre. And behold, 
there had been a great earthquake ; for the angel 
of the Lord, having descended from heaven, came 
and rolled away the stone from the door, and sat 
upon it. His appearance was like lightning, and 
his raiment was white as snow. From fear of 
him the keepers did shake and became like dead 
men. But the angel answered and said to the 
women: Fear not; for I know that you seek 
Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here : for he 



362 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where 
the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his dis- 
ciples, that he has risen from the dead : and be- 
hold, he goes before you into Galilee. There you 
shall see him. Lo, I have told you." Matt, xxviii. 
1-7. 

The Ascension. "Thou art ascended on high, 
thou hast led captivity captive : thou hast re- 
ceived gifts for men ; yea, for the rebellious also, 
that the Lord Grod might dwell among them." 
Psa. lxviii. 18. "And he led them out as far as 
Bethany ; and he lifted up his hands, and bless- 
ed them. And it came to pass, that as he blessed 
them, he was separated from them, and carried 
up into heaven." Luke xxiv. 50, 51. 

The Descent of the Holy Spirit. "And it shall 
come to pass afterward that I will pour out my 
Spirit upon all flesh ; and your sons and your 
daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall 
dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 
And also upon the servants and upon the hand- 
maids in those days will I pour out my Spirit." 
Joel ii. 28, 29. "And when the day of Pentecost 
had fully come, they were all with one consent 
in one place. And suddenly there came from 
heaven a sound as of a rushing, violent wind, and 
it filled the whole house in which they were sit- 



THE RECONSTRUCTION. 363 

ting. And there appeared to them tongues like 
fire, which distributed themselves, and sat one 
on each of them. And they were all filled with 
the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with 
other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." 
Acts ii. 1-4. 

The fourth fundamental era of Christianity 
was that embracing the organization of the 
Church by the appointment of the seven deacons; 
Stephen's arrest, and noble defence before the 
Sanhedrim ; the death by stoning of the proto- 
martyr ; the persecution and dispersion of the 
Church of Jerusalem, and the consequent trans- 
ference of the Gospel to the Gentiles. The date 
of these events seems to be A. D. 33 ; and this 
we place as the fourth corner of our historical 
edifice. 

Before we proceed with the superstructure we 
must be sure that the base is properly laid; 
and to this end we will test it by Gabriel's plumb 
line, square and compasses : "Know, therefore, 
and understand, that from the going forth of the 
commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem 
unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven 
weeks, and three score and two weeks. . . . 
And after three score and two weeks shall Mes- 
siah be cut off, but not for Himself. . . . And 



364 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

He shall confirm the covenant with many for 
one week : and in the midst of the week He shall 
cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. " 
Dan. ix. 25-27. 

In the fifth chapter it was clearly shown that 
the commandment to restore and to build Jeru- 
salem went forth in the year B. C. 457. In this 
quotation from Daniel there are three events in- 
dicated : 

1. The manifestation to Israel of "the Messiah 
the Prince," which took place at the baptism of 
Jesus ; when there came u a voice from heaven, 
saying: This is My beloved Son, in Him I de- 
light," This was to be at the end of seven weeks 
and three score and two weeks 7 + 62 = 69 x 7 
=483), or 483 years, from B. C. 457, that is (483 - 
457 = 26), in A. D. 26— the very year of our Lord's 
baptism. 

2. Succeeding this time there was to be one 
week, the seventieth, during which the Messiah 
was to confirm the new covenant, that of the 
Gospel, with many of Daniel's people, the Jews ; 
and in the midst, or middle of this week, was the 
Messiah to be "cut off, but not for himself ;" 
when, being offered as the great antitypical sacri- 
fice for the sins of the whole world, he caused 
the typical, Jewish sacrifices and oblation, to 



THE RECONSTRUCTION. 365 

cease, loose their efficiency, and become useless. 
One-half of this week, or Si years, begun in A. 
D. 26, reaches into the year 30, when, as we have 
seen, our blessed Lord was crucified. 

3. The end of the last week, and the termina- 
tion of the 490 years (70 x 7 = 490) was in A. D. 
33 (490 - 457 = 33) when, as already stated, the 
Jewish Church of the new covenant, whose or- 
ganization commenced with our Lord's baptism, 
was dispersed abroad, carrying the Gospel into 
the adjacent provinces of the Roman empire ; 
and with this event the "seventy weeks" of years 
allotted to the Jews ended, and "the times of the 
Gentiles" began. 

Thus we see that, in relation to the Old Testa- 
ment prophecies, our foundation of Christian 
history is properly laid ; and hence, we may ven- 
ture to place the second course of the structure, 
which consists of the history of Christianity 
among the Gentiles, from its introduction in A. 
D. 33, to the establishment of Imperial Anti- 
christianism in A. D. 313. This period of 280 
years is indicated in Rev. xii. 1-6, by "a Woman 
(the Christian Church) clothed with the sun (the 
righteousness and pure doctrines of Jesus Christ); 
and the moon (the feeble light of Romanized 
Christianity) under .her feet (succeeding her 



366 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

time), and on her head was a crown of twelve 
stars (the twelve apostles); and, being with child, 
she cried out in travail, and in the pains of deliv- 
ery ; " for the time from the conception to the 
birth is 40 weeks, or 280 days. In the fifth chap- 
ter it is shown that these, and the succeeding 
four verses symbolically represent the condition 
of Christianity during its subjection to, and con- 
flicts with, the Imperial power and Pagan relig- 
ion, of the Roman empire. The circumstances 
affecting the Church during this time are figura- 
tively represented by the opening of the six 
seals, as was shown in the fourth chapter. 

It is not the purpose here to recount the horrid 
persecutions, heroic faith and zeal, and sublime 
achievements of the Christians of the first three 
centuries, but to clearly identify, and unmistak- 
ably designate by the use of the prophetic num- 
bers, the systems of error, superstition, and cruel- 
ty that supplanted and succeeded primitive 
Christianity. 

In former chapters it has been shown that the 
second form of Christianity, or rather, the first 
organized system of Antichristianism, was the 
politico-religious, pagano-Christian, Church-and- 
State polity instituted and presided over by Con- 
stantine and his successors. 



THE RECONSTRUCTION'. 367 

Now, as it lias pleased the Alwise to designate 
the exact time of the principal events of the rise 
of Christianity, it is supposable that the same has 
been done respecting the rise of Antichristian- 
ism. In the foregoing chapters it has been shown 
by concurrent prophetic and historical testimony 
that Constantine was the proto-Antichrist ; 
and now let us see if the inflexible rules of 
arithmetic will prove our former conclusion cor- 
rect. 

For the birth of Constantine, as for that of 
Christ, several dates have been set, varying from 
A. D. 272 to 275, yet 274, or perhaps 275, seems 
most probable. "Constantine, the son of Con- 
stantius and Hellen, was probably born at 
Naissius, in Dacia, A. D. 274." — Student's Gibbon, 
100. 

Above it was shown that the first corner stone 
in the foundation of Christian history was the 
years B. C. 6 and 5* and also that the 280 years, 
symbolized by the Woman bearing a child, was 
the period of pure primitive Christianity, ex- 
tending from the time of the true Christ to that 
of the Antichrist, From B. C. 6, the 280 years 
reach to 274, and from B. C. 5 to 275. Hence we 
see that the birth of Christ and that of Constan- 
tine are spanned by the 280 years. 



368 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

The second great event in the life of Christ was 
His anointing by the Holy Spirit, and induc- 
tion into His heaven-ordained office in A. D. 26. 
Constant ius, the father of Constantine, "ended 
his life in the Imperial palace of York, July 25, 
A. D. 306. . . . His death was immediately 
succeeded by the elevation of Constantine, who 
was saluted by the troops with the name of 
Augustus and Emperor."— Stu. Gib., 100. In A. 
D. 26 the blessed Jesus, the true Christ, came 
forth from obscurity, was elevated to the Mes- 
siahship, and saluted, and introduced to the 
world by u a voice from heaven, saying : This is 
My beloved Son, in whom I delight." Matt. iii. 
17. And in A. D. 306 (,280 + 26 = 306) Constan- 
tine, the Antichrist, came forth from obscurity, 
and was elevated by the pagan soldiery to the 
throne of God (Rev. xii. 5), and by them saluted 
with the divine "names of Augustus and Em- 
peror." 

The third great epoch in our Lord's history was 
that of His crucifixion, resurrection and ascen- 
sion in A. D. 30. "While Constantine was en- 
gaged upon the Rhine in repelling an insurrec- 
tion of the Franks, Maximian seized the vacant 
throne. The rapid return of Constantine de- 
feated all the hopes of Maximian, who lied for 



THE RECONSTRUCTION. 369 

refuge to Marseilles. Tlie inhabitants of this 
city surrendered him to Constantine, who com- 
pelled the old man to put an end to his life, A. 
D. 310, February."— Stu, Gib., 103. In A. D. 30, 
while the Prince of Life was engaged at the river 
of the dark valley in subduing the foes of His 
empire, His enemy, Death, usurped His vacant 
throne ; but the sudden return to life of Jesus 
defeated all the hopes of sin, death and hell, for 
"He ascended on high, He led captive a multi- 
tude of captives, and gave gifts to men. Eph. iv. 
8. "O Death, where is thy sting? O Hades, 
where is thy victory." And in A. D. 310 (30 -f- 280 
= 310 \ while Constantine was engaged upon the 
river Rhine in repelling the foes of his empire, 
his enemy, Maximian, usurped his throne ; but 
the rapid return of Constantine defeated all the 
hopes of Maximian, who was soon led as a cap- 
tive to death ; and Constantine re-ascended his 
throne, now more secure than before. 

The fourth important era in the institution of 
Christianity was that in which the Gospel of sal- 
vation was transferred to the Gentiles of the Ro- 
man provinces of Samaria, Phenicia, Syria, Cy- 
prus, etc., in A. D. 33, when ended the "seventy 
weeks" of years allotted to the Jews. "A few 
months after the death of Maxentius in A. D. 313, 



370 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

by which Constantiiie became the master of Italy, 
he published the celebrated edict of Milan. . . . 
After the death of Maximian (A. D. 313) the edict 
of Milan was received as a general and funda- 
mental law of the Eoman world." — Stu. Gib., 119. 
In A. D. 33, ''the glorious Gospel of the blessed 
God," as formulated and proclaimed by Jesus 
Christ and His Apostles, with its divine maxims, 
and heavenly laws, was introduced to the Gen- 
tile nations, as designed by Jehovah to be the 
general and fundamental law of the Roman 
world; and in A. D. 313 (33 + 280 = 313) the edict 
of Milan, with its human maxims, and earthly 
laws, as formulated and proclaimed by Constan- 
tine and his apostles, was introduced to the Gen- 
tile nations as designed by Constantiiie to 
be the general and fundamental law of the Ro- 
man world. 

Again, in A. D. 44, a second great persecution 
sent off others with messages of salvation to the 
heathen. u At that time Herod, the king, under- 
took to afflict some of the churches. And he 
slew, with the sword, James, the brother of John. 
And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he 
apprehended Peter also." Acts xii. 1. And, in 
this year, Paul came with Barnabas from Anti- 
och to Jerusalem, and while praying in the tern- 



THE KECONSTBUCTION. 371 

pie, the Lord said to him : "Make haste, and de- 
part quickly out of Jerusalem, for they (the Jews) 
will not receive your testimony concerning me. 
. Depart, for I will send you far off to the 
Gentiles." In obedience to this command they 
returned to Antioch. "And while they were 
ministering to the Lord, and fasting, the Holy 
Spirit said : Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul, 
to the work to which I have called them. Then, 
after they had fasted and prayed, and laid their 
hands on them, they sent them away (A. 13. 45). 
Therefore, having been sent forth by the Holy 
Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and thence 
sailed to Cyprus." Acts xiii. 2-4. 

"The establishment of Christianity as the reli- 
gion of the State followed the defeat of Licinius 
(A. D. 324). As soon as that event had invested 
Constantine with the sole dominion of the Ro- 
man world, he immediately, by circular letters, 
exhorted all his subjects to imitate, without de- 
lay, the example of their sovereign, and to em- 
brace the divine truths of Christianity. The ir- 
resistable power of the Roman emperors was 
displayed in the important and dangerous change 
of the national religion. The terror of a military 
force silenced the faint and unsupported mur- 
murs of the Pagans." — Stu. Gib., 122. 



372 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

u At the Pentecost, or Whitsuntide, of the yeai 
325, . . . the representatives of the churches 
were gathered at Mcaea, and the Emperor ar- 
rived on the 14th of June. . . . Eusebius gives 
a glowing description of the opening scene : After 
all the bishops had entered the central building 
of the royal palace, on the sides of which very 
many seats were prepared, each took his place 
with becoming modesty, and silently awaited the 
arrival of the Emperor. . . . The moment 
the signal was given which announced the Em- 
peror's approach, they all rose from their seats, 
and the Emperor appeared like a heavenly mes- 
senger (or angel) of God, covered with gold and 
gems,— a glorious presence, very tall and slender, 
full of beauty, strength and majesty. . . . 
When he reached the golden throne prepared 
for him, he stopped, and sat not down till the 
bishops gave him the sign ; and, after him, they 
all resumed their seats."— Stu. Eccl. Hist, 256, 
257. 

The following parallels may be drawn between 
the events of the years A. D. 44 and 324 (44 + 280 
= 324). 

1. In A. D. 44 Herod's persecution and its 
termination tended to extend and establish the 
religion of Jesus Christ among th? Gentiles ; and 



THE RECONSTRUCTION. 373 

in A. D. 324, Licinius' war and its termination 
tended to extend and establish the religion of 
Constantine among the Gentiles. 

2. In A. D. 44, in consequence of the opposition 
to the religion of Jesus in Jerusalem, the old seat 
of Judaism, a new seat of primitive Christianity 
was established by the Lord Jesus at Antioch, in 
Syria ; and in A. D. 324, in consequence of the 
opposition to the religion of Constantine in Rome, 
the old seat of Paganism, a new seat of Imperial 
Christianity was established by Constantine at 
Byzantium, in Thracia. 

3. In A. D. 44 the Lord Jesus sent Saul "far 
off to the Gentiles," with messages of mercy to 
all men, exhorting them to embrace the divine 
truths of Christianity, as preached by ministers 
sent forth by the Supreme Head of the true 
Church, Jesus Christ ; and in A. D. 324 the em- 
peror Constantine, "by circular letters, exhorted 
all his subjects to imitate without delay the exam- 
ple of their sovereign, and to embrace the divine 
truths of Christianity" as preached by ministers 
commissioned by the supreme head of the (apos- 
tate) Church, Constantine. 

4. While in A. D. 33, Christianity had been 
informally introduced to the Gentiles, in A. D. 
44, by the direct and positive commands of Christ 



374 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

to Saul, it was authoritatively transferred to the 
heathen world ; and while in A. D. 313, by the 
edict of Milan, Constantinianism was informally 
introduced to the nations, in A. D. 324, by the di- 
rect and positive commands of the emperor, it 
was authoritatively established as the religion of 
the Roman world. 

The following are parallels between the events 
of A. D. 45 and 325 (45 + 280 = 325). 

1. In A. D. 45 there was an assembly of the 
chief members of the Gentile Church at Antioch, 
in the midst of which, according to His promise, 
was the Lord Jesus, who, as seen by John on 
Patmos, "was clothed in a robe reaching to His 
feet, and girdled about the breast with a golden 
girdle. His head and his hair were white as 
white wool, as white as snow ; and his eyes were 
as a flame of fire ; and his feet were like fine 
brass, as if they burned in a furnace ; and his 
voice was like the voice of many waters. And 
he had in his hand seven stars, . . . and his 
face was as the sun when it shines in its strength." 
Rev. i. 13-16 ; and in A. D. 325 there was an as- 
sembly of the chief members of the Gentile 
Church at Nica^a, in which Constantine "the em- 
peror appeared like a heavenly messenger (or 
angel) of God, covered with gold and gems,— a 



THE RECONSTRUCTION. 375 

glorious presence," and sat upon "the golden 
throne prepared for him." 

2 In A. D. 45 the Holy Spirit, presiding over 
and controling the proceedings of the assembly 
at Antioch, caused such things to be done as 
would most effectually extend and establish the 
kingdom of Christ throughout the world ; and in 
A. D. 325, the emperor, presiding over and con- 
trolling the proceedings of the Council of Mcaea, 
caused such things to be done as would most 
effectually extend and establish the kingdom of 
Antichrist throughout the world. 

To be sure that the second course of our his- 
torical edifice is properly laid we must again test 
our work by Gabriel's plumb-line of "seventy 
weeks." In the year B. C. 446, following a great 
persecution in Jerusalem, Jewish fugitives came 
to Shushan bearing the sad tidings that the 
people in Judea were "in great affliction and re- 
proach," and in B. C. 445 Artaxerxes, king of 
kings, sent forth Nehemiah to resume, extend, 
and complete the work that Ezra was commis- 
sioned to do in B. C. 457. So in A. D. 44 (490 - 
446 = 44) Jewish fugitives came to Antioch bring- 
ing sad tidings of the great affliction and reproach 
that the Christians in Judea were in, owing to 
the persecutions of Herod ; and in A. D. 45 (490 



376 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

— 445 =45) the Lord Jesus, King of kings, sent 
forth Barnabas and Saul to resume, extend, and 
complete the work that had been commenced by 
the Christians driven from Jerusalem by the 
persecution following the death of Stephen in A. 
D.33. 

The character of Constantine and of the system 
of Imperial Christianity established by him will 
further appear from the following: "Upon the 
death of Lepidus, Augustus assumed the title of 
Pontifex Maximus, or Supreme Pontiff, which 
gave him the management of the Roman religion, 
and this important dignity was borne by all his 
successors. ... A regular custom was intro- 
duced, that, on the decease of every emperor, the 
senate, by a solemn decree, should place Irm in 
the number of the gods. ... At length the 
style of our Lord and Emperor was not only be- 
stowed by flattery, but was regularly admitted 
into the laws and public monuments. . . . When 
a subject was admitted to the Imperial presence, 
he was obliged, whatever might be his rank, to 
fall prostrate on the ground, and to adore, accord- 
ing to the eastern fashion, the divinity of his lord 
and master. ... It was long since established 
as a fundamental maxim of the Roman constitu- 
tion, that every rank of citizens was alike subject 



THE KECONSTKUCTION. 377 

to the laws, and that the care of religion was the 
right as well as duty of the civil magistrate. Con- 
stantine and his successors could not easily per- 
suade themselves that they had forfeited by their 
conversion any "branch of the Imperial preroga- 
tives, or that they were incapable of giving laws 
to a religion which they had protected and em- 
braced. The emperors still continued to exercise 
a supreme jurisdiction over the ecclesiastical 
order."- Stu. Gib., 13, 15, 93, 94, 123. 

"But he (Constantine) was still a heathen (after 
A. D. 313). . . . Still he worshiped the gods 
of Borne, and professed a special devotion for 
Apollo, with whom Constantine's flatterers com- 
pared him for his manly beauty. It was not till 
after his final victory over his last remaining 
rival, Licinius, that he made a distinct profession 
of Christianity, and recommended all his subjects 
to embrace the religion of Christ (A. D. 321). The 
public respect which he had paid to the old re- 
ligion (Paganism) up to this time was even con- 
tinued afterward. . . . Thus his new capital 
of Constantinople (dedicated in A. D. 330,) was 
placed under the joint protection of the God of 
the martyrs and the goddess Fortune ; his coin 
bore on one side the monogram of Christ, and on 
the other the image of the Sun-god, with the in- 



878 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

scription Sol Invictus ; and he retained to the 
last the title of Pontif ex Maximus, which marked 
the emperor as the priestly head of the Pagan 
hierarchy. . . . He called himself the Bishop 
of bishops, and in the year after his victory over 
Licinius he assumed a sort of headship of the 
Clmrch on earth, by convening and presiding 
over the first of those councils, whose very title 
of (Ecumenical marked the connection of the 
Church with the organization of the empire. . . . 
His ecclesiastical position is thus summed up by 
an Anglican divine (Dean Stanley) : — 'So passed 
away the first Christian emperor, the first 1 )e- 
fender of the Faith, the first Imperial patron of 
the Papal See and of the whole Eastern Church ; 
the first founder of the Holy Places ; Pagan and 
Christian, orthodox and heretical, liberal and 
fanatical ; not to be imitated and admired, but 
much to be remembered and deeply to be studied." 
—Stu. Ecd. Hist, 237, 247. 

"Neither in Constantine, nor in his favorite 
bishops, nor in the general appearance of the 
Clmrch, can we see much of the spirit of godli- 
ness. Pompous apparatus, augmented super- 
stitions, and unmeaning forms of piety, with 
much show and little substance appear. . . . 
The doctrine of real conversion was very much 



THE KECONSTRUCTION. 379 

lost, or external baptism was placed in its stead; 
and the true doctrine of justification by faith, 
and the true practical use of a crucified Savior 
for troubled consciences, were scarcely to be seen 
at this time. There was much outward religion, 
but this could not make men saints in heart and 
life. The worst part of the character of Constan- 
tine is, that as he grew older he grew more culp- 
able, oppressive in his own family, oppressive to 
the government, oppressive by eastern super- 
fluous magnificence. The facts displayed will 
show how little true humility and charity were 
now known in the Christian world ; while super- 
stition and self- righteousness were making vigor- 
ous shoots, and the real Gospel of Christ was 
hidden from men who professed it."— Hist. Oh. 
Christ, vol 2 ; 31, 33. 

"It is in vain that zealous writers have tried to 
relieve Constantine's reputation from the crimes 
committed to satisfy his ambition. His father- 
in-law; his brother-in-law, Licinius; his own son, 
Crispus; his nephew, the son of Licinius, a boy of 
eleven years, and lastly his wife, Fausta, were 
successively his victims. . . . All vestiges of 
republican forms were extinguished by him. . . . 
He made his court outshine in splendor and mag- 
nificence even those of the oriental princes, and 



380 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

created a hierarchy of officials which to this day 
has remained the model of European mon- 
archical courts. A standing army of 300,000 men 
and 29 naval squadrons supported the imperial 
authority. Heavy impositions upon the people 
were necessary to cover the enormous expenses." 
— Am. Cyc. " 'Const ant hie Z" 

Thus rose the great system of imperial, Anti- 
christian despotism over the bodies and souls of 
men redeemed from sin and slavery by the pre- 
cious blood of Christ, whose yoke is easy and 
whose burden is light. It was originated by Con- 
stantine, developed by succeeding emperors, and 
then divided into two parts, Eastern and West- 
ern. The Czar of Russia is the modern represen- 
tative of the Eastern or Greek division. The 
Western or Roman section was divided into ten 
parts, horns, or toes ; and among these, as one of 
the family, the "little horn," the Papacy came up. 
The present monarchies of Europe are the ten 
horns, and with these, as well as with the Dragon 
of Russia, the Beast of Rome, and the False 
Prophet of Turkey, the God of heaven has a con- 
troversy, and will soon "bring them down into 
the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with 
them there." Joel iii. 2. 

Having thus unmistakably designated the 



THE RECONSTRUCTION. 381 

imperial, politico-religious, Pagan o-CIiristian, 
Church-and-state polity of Constantine as Anti- 
christianism, tlie ten-horned beast of Dan. vii. 7, 
and Rev. xiii. 5, let us now endeavor to identify 
the second child, the female that became an har- 
lot, and even the Mother of Harlots. 

It has been shown in this chapter that the ad- 
vent of the Divine Author of Christianity was in 
B. C. 6-5, and that the author of Imperial Christi- 
anity was born in A. D. 274 or 275 (280 - 6 = 
274), so, in the eighth chapter it is clearly shown 
that Clerical or Papal Christianity originated in 
A. D. 554-555 (274 + 280 = 554). In A. D. 554 
the Gothic dominion in Italy ended and the Papal 
began, and in A. D. 555, Pope Pelagius, having 
been elected, and confirmed by the emperor Jus- 
tinian, came forth from Constantinople to Rome, 
and occupied the chair of Saint Peter. So that 
just 40 symbolic weeks, or 280 years after the 
Woman, the Church, gave birth to the male 
child, Imperialism, she brought forth the female 
child, Ecclesiasticism, which is doubtless the 
little horn of Dan. vii. 8 ; the two-horned beast of 
Rev. xiii. 11 ; and the eighth head and harlot of 
Rev. xvii. 

A:J in the foregoing chapters it has been shown 
by c orresponding prophetical and historical testi- 



382 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

mony, as well as by many measurements made 
with the 42 months and the number 666 of Kev. 
xiii. 5, 18, and other prophetic numbers, that 
"Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots, and 
of the Idolatrous Pollutions of the earth" is the 
apostate Romish Church, and that the u flve 
months," and "an hour, and a clay, and month, 
and a year," of Eev. ix. 10, 15, allude to impor- 
tant events in the history of the Saracens and 
Turks, we will not here review the dismal doings 
of the Dark ages, but pass on to contemplate the 
morning light of the Reformation of the sixteenth 
century. 

Now, as it has been shown that the origin and 
history of Primitive, Imperial, and Papal Christi- 
anity are chronologically founded upon the life 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, if, in the estimation of 
the Omniscient, Luther's reformation was really 
what some men consider it to have been — a re- 
vival and restoration of the religious faith and 
worship instituted by our Lord and His apostles 
— the commencement of Christ's recovery of the 
world from the dominion of Antichrist, we might 
expect to find that this also bears a similar rela- 
tion to the common foundation of Christian his- 
tory. Let us examine the matter. 

In Rev. xiii. 5, it is stated that the Imperial 



THE KECONSTRUCTION. 883 

beast was "to continue forty-two months." This 
period, as is shown in the fifth chapter, page 61, 
is equal to 1242 historical years, which, together 
with the 280 years will reach exactly from our 
Lord's advent in B. C. 6 and 5 to A. D. 1516 and 
1517, the epoch of the Reformation, as begun by 
the preaching of the Gospel of Christ by Zwingli 
and Luther as they learned it from the Greek 
Testament published by Erasmus. 

"Erasmus published in A. D. 1516 the first 
printed edition of the Greek Testament from 
manuscripts, which has been regarded as* his 
greatest work." — Am. Cyc. "Erasmus." 

This was the "reed like a rod," straight and 
inflexible, (Rev. xi. 1.), by which those godly 
men, Zwingli, Luther and other great reformers, 
measured the impious pretensions and practices 
of Rome. 

To the Pope's nuncio, who objected to his 
preaching, Zwingli said : "With the help of God 
I will go on preaching the gospel, and this preach- 
ing will make Rome totter." "I began," said 
Zwingli, "to preach the gospel in the year of 
grace 1516, that is, at a time when the name of 
Luther had never been heard among these coun- 
tries (Switzerland). It was not from Luther that 
I learned the doctrine of Christ ; it was from 



8S4 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

God's word. If Luther preaches Christ, he does 
as I do; that is all." "I am no Lutheran," said 
Zwingli, "for I understood Greek before I had 
heard the name of Luther ;" intimating thereby 
that the study of the Greek Testament had taught 
him the necessity of a reformation." — Am. Cyc, 
11 'Zivinali" 

"In A. D. 1517 Luther first read in public his 
famous theses, or propositions, in which he bit- 
terly inveighed against the traffic in indulgences, 
and challenged all the learned men of the day to 
content them with him in a public disputation. 
. . . And as he enlarged his observation and 
reading, and discovered new abuses and errors, 
he began to entertain doubts of the Pope's divine 
authority — rejected the doctrine of his infalli- 
bility—gradually abolished the practice of mass, 
auricular confession, and the worship of images 
—denied the doctrine of purgatory, and opposed 
the fastings of the Romish Church, monastic 
vows, and the celibacy of the clergy." — Willso?i's 
Out. Hist., 333. 

All historians regard this as the real commence- 
ment or birth of the great Reformation from Ro- 
manism. And we shall find that the other im- 
portant events in the rise of Christianity and 
Const antinianism have their counterparts in the 



THE RECONSTEUCTION. 385 

institution of Protestantism, according to Eev. 
xi. 7-13 : but with this difference : Whereas our 
Savior's death, resurrection and ascension all 
occur in A. D. 30, "in the midst of the week," 
His faithful Witnesses are slain at the beginning, 
they rise in the middle, and ascend at the end of 
the seven years. 

In A. D. 26 the Lord Jesus, and in A. D. 306 
Constantine, commenced their life-work, the for- 
mer appointed by the Divine Majesty of the 
heavens, the latter by the base soldiery of the 
earth ; and in A. D. 1548 (26 + 280 = 306 + 1242 
= 1548) the Witnesses of Jesus began their life- 
work — to suffer the loss of all things for Christ 
(1 Peter ii. 21), and to be slain or deprived of their 
political and religious life, as was the case in 
Sept., A. D. 1548, when the enforcement of the 
"Interim" obliged the Protestants to relinquish 
to the Papists their churches and their dearest 
rights. "The Protestant clergy now were expel- 
led throughout the greater part of Germany. 
Melancthon states that in Swabia and the circles 
of the Rhine four hundred pastors were driven 
from their cures ; some were murdered, and their 
families exposed to a variety of sufferings. Nor 
were others found to supply their places ; the 
churches were mostly shut up, no public assem- 



386 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

blies were held, nor were the sacraments admin- 
istered."— Hist. Oh. Christ, vol. 6, 331. 

The Witnesses were now killed by "the beast 
that ascends out of the abyss," that is, by the Em- 
peror Charles V., the successor of Constantine 
through the line of Charlemagne. 

In A. D. 30 the blessed Jesus rose to life, and 
dethroned his enemy, Death ; in A. D. 310 Con- 
stantine, as it were, returned to life, and dethroned 
his enemy, Maximian, and in March, A. D. 1552 
(30 -f 280 = 310 + 1242 - 1552), headed by Maurice 
of Saxony, the dead but unburied Protestants, 
"after three days and a half" (3i years from Sept. 
A. D. 1548), the spirit of life from God entered 
into them, and they stood upon their feet, and 
great fear fell upon those who saw them" (Rev. 
xi. 11),— the Popish "council of Trent dissolved 
itself with consternation, and was not able to re- 
assemble for the space of ten years." 

In A. D. 33, by an edict from heaven, the pure, 
heavenly faith and worship of Jesus Christ es- 
caped the persecution of Judaism, and was intro- 
duced to the Gentile world ; in A. D. 313, by the 
edict of Milan, the corrupt, earthly faith and 
worship of Constantine escaped from the perse- 
cution of Paganism, and was introduced as the 
"general and fundamental law of the Roman 



THE EE CONSTRUCTION. 387 

world," and in Sept., A. D. 1555, three years and 
a half from March, A. D. 1552 (33 + 280 = 313 + 
12-12 = 1555), by an edict of the great diet of 
Augsburg, the revived faith and worship of the 
Bible escaped the persecution of Imperialism, 
and was re-introduced to the world. "The Bible, 
I say, the Bible only, is the religion of Protes- 
tants."— Chilling-worth. 

In A. D. 44-5 Christianity was established in 
the Gentile world, and the first council of its 
kind, at Antioch, over which the Holy Ghost 
presided, sent forth holy men to preach, by di- 
vine inspiration, the glorious Gospel of the 
blessed God ; in A. D. 324-5 Constantinianism was 
established in the Gentile world, and the First 
(Ecumenical Council, at Nicaea, over which Con- 
stantine presided, framed and sent forth instead 
of the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, the 
Mcene creed, together with several other human 
productions. u To the original creed a clause was 
appended, amathematizing Arius and his follow- 
ers ; and henceforth no affirmation of truth was 
deemed forcible enough without a curse on its 
deniers. . . . Thus the principle of punish- 
ment by the civil power for heresy . . . was 
for the first time established as a law" (Stu. Eccl. 
Hist., 285) ; and in A. D. 1566 (44 + 280 = 324 + 



388 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

1242 = 1566) Protestantism was established in the 
world, u For by that time all the Reformed 
churches were settled, and published their creeds 
and confessions against Rome, in opposition to 
the determination of the Popish Council of Trent, 
published in the year 1563, and the creed of Pope 
Pius VI., which added twelve Antichristian ar- 
ticles to the twelve primitive Christian ones, 
which was put out A. D. 1564." — Fleming. And 
in the year 1566 died the great Turkish Sultan, 
Solyman the Magnificent, who had restrained the 
rage of the Romanists during the Reformation, 
and was succeeded by the indolent Selmin II., 
when the military power of the Turks "began 
immediately to decline," and the second, or Turk- 
ish woe, ended, and the third, or Protestant woe, 
upon the dominions of the Antichrists began. 

In A. D. 330, arrangements for the transfer hav- 
ing been made in A. D. 313 and 324, Constantine 
dedicates New Rome as the future capital of Im- 
perialism; and in A. D. 1572 (330 + 1242 = 1572), 
arrangements for the transfer having been made 
in A. D. 1555 and 1566, the Pope causes Paris, the 
modern capital of Imperialism, to be dedicated 
during eight days, beginning with St. Bartholo- 
mew's day, by the massacre of more than 50,000 
Protestants. 



THE RECONSTRUCTION. 389 

We have now reached the period of the fourth 
form of Christianity, that of the Protestants, who 
by wielding the sharp two-edged sword of "The 
Word of God," and by proclaiming the divine 
truth "that all men are created equal," are to in- 
flict the "seven plagues which are the last," and 
destroy the kingdom of the Imperial and Papal 
Antichrists. This period extends from the as- 
cent of the Witnesses to the heaven of power 
and influence in A. D. 1555, to the end of the 
present age. As the progress of their work up to 
the present time has already been recorded, we 
have now, by the clear light of the "sure word of 
prophecy," to advance into the future, and ex- 
plore those wonderful "things that have been 
kept secret from the foundation of the world." In 
order to proceed surely in our search, we must 
employ and take with us every available guide, 
and to this end we will now properly prepare 
and place in order for future use, all the divinely 
given prophetic numbers that apply to "the last 
end of the indignation." 

In Dan. viii. 13, 14, is recorded a conversation 
heard by the prophet between two celestial be- 
ings, and the answer to a question asked, which 
was addressed to Daniel. "Then I heard one saint 
speaking, and another saint (probably Gabriel) 



390 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

said unto that certain saint (Palmoni, or the 
Wonderful Numberer) which spoke, How long 
shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice 
(service or worship), and the transgression of des- 
olation, to give both the sanctuary and the host 
to be trodden under foot? And he said to Hie, 
Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then 
shall the sanctuary be cleansed." 

Now as 2300 years, commenced at any reasonable 
date, will not reach to the present time, when the 
sanctuary is not cleansed, and for other reasons 
given below, we take the liberty to question the 
correctness of the text, and to attempt to show 
that instead of "Unto two thousand and three 
hundred days," it should read, "Unto two thous- 
and and four hundred days." 

"In the time of Josephus, the first century after 
Christ, the sacred Scriptures were found only in 
Hebrew and Greek— the latter, called the Septu- 
agint version, being a copy of the former. From 
the Hebrew, Josephus translated his Jewish An- 
tiquities into the Greek language. . . . Sub- 
sequently, however, a remarkable difference has 
arisen between copies of the Hebrew and of the 
Grecian text. . . . When, by whom, and in 
what versions of the Scriptures, the chronologi- 
cal errors were introduced, has long been a sub- 



THE RECONSTRUCTION. 391 

ject of investigation with the learned; and a va- 
riety of evidence, of a highly interesting charac- 
ter, has at length been adduced, proving that, 
while the Septuagint has remained essentially 
unchanged, the chronology of the Hebrew text 
has been perverted at different times by the 
Jews, that the prophecies concerning the advent 
of the Savior might not appear to be fulfilled, 
and that the reality of the Christian Messiah 
might thereby be disproved."— Willson's Out. 
Hist, 622. 

From this it seems almost probable that the text 
under consideration has been corrupted, and the 
probability will be strengthened by the follow- 
ing from Diss. Proph., page 290 : "It is difficult 
to fix the precise time when the prophetic dates 
begin, and when they end, until the prophecies 
are fulfilled, and the event declares the certain- 
ty of them. And the difficulty is increased in 
this case by reason of some variety in the copies. 
For the Seventy (the Septuagint version) have 
four hundred in this place." 

Assuming then that "Unto two thousand and 
four hundred days" is the proper reading of the 
text, we will, by deducting 35, properly reduce 
the 2400 lunar to 2365 solar years, and adopt the 
latter period as the guide Number One. 



392 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

But what is this mysterious number that has 
been so long hid from view, but is now raised to 
the light of day? Why, it is a Jubilee of Jubi- 
lees ! or a grand cycle of 49 x 49 years ! at the 
final ending of which the sanctuary is to be 
cleansed, and the remnant of the whole world, 
that has so long been led captive by the Dragon, 
Beast and False Prophet, shall return to the 
kingdom and service of the Prince of Peace, the 
King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 

In Rev. xii. 14 we read that when the Dragon 
(Monarchy, Popery and Prelacy of Europe) "per- 
secuted the Woman (true Christianity) that 
brought forth the male child" (Constantine) "two 
wings of a great eagle were given to the Woman, 
that she might fly into the wilderness, into her 
place (North America— especially reserved for 
her), where she is nourished for a time, and times 
and half a time, away from the presence of the ser- 
pent." This is the same period as that mentioned 
in Dan. xii. 7. The time signifies a century, times 
two centuries, and half a time a half century — 
making 350 prophetic, or 345 historical years. We 
take this as our guide Number Two. 

Dan. xii. 11, reads thus : "And from the time 
that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and 
the abomination that maketh desolate set up, 



THE RECONSTRUCTION. 393 

there shall be a thousand two hundred and 
ninety days." These 1290 prophetic years will 
be properly shortened by the subtraction of 18, 
and the resulting number, 1272, we adopt as our 
guide Number Three. 

Another important prophetic number is found 
in Dan. xii. 12 : "Blessed is he that waiteth and 
cometh to the thousand three hundred and five 
and thirty days ;" which is reduced from 1335 
prophetic, to 1316 historical years, by taking 19 
therefrom ; and the number 1316 is accepted as 
our guide Number Four. 

The number "forty-two months," in Kev. xiii. 
5, which has already so accurately indicated the 
times and seasons of the male and female Anti- 
christs, will, without doubt, safely lead us into 
the future ; and this, which equals 1242 solar 
years, we take as our guide Number Five. 

In 2 Chron. xxxvr 10, we read : "And when the 
year was expired, king Nebuchadnezzar sent and 
brought him (king Jehoiachin) to Babylon," etc.; 
and in Ezek. xxi. 25 : "And thou profane wicked 
prince of Israel, whose day is come, when ini- 
quity shall have an end." We understand this 
prophetic day of the latter passage to correspond 
with the year of the former, and the year to sig- 
nify a year of iveehs of years, or (360 x 7 = 2520) 



394 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

2520 years, and this we regard as the grand sacred 
scale of time, upon which the times and seasons 
of man upon the earth have been protracted, re- 
ferred to in the fifth chapter. And as this num- 
ber applies to the glorious light of the Sun of 
of Righteousness, and not to the moonlight of 
Eomanism, it consists of 2520 solar years. 

"Darkness is not from the Sun, 

Nor mount the shades till He is gone." 

And this we take as our guide Number Six. 

Our guides lack one of being the complete 
sacred number seven, and hence we must find 
another. Isa. xix. 19, 20, referring to the close of 
the present age states that "In that day there 
shall be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the 
land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border there- 
of to the Lord. And it shall be for a witness 
unto the Lord of hosts, in the land of Egypt." 
This doubtless alludes to the Great Pyramid of 
Gizeh. So without much intruding upon the do- 
main of the learned Pyramidolcgists, we will 
enter its mysterious recesses in search of our 
seventh guide, bearing in mind that when time 
is indicated an inch signifies a year, and in astro- 
nomical measurements an inch represents a 
mile. 

The part for our examination must be the 



THE RECONSTRUCTION. 395 

Grand Gallery, as this is supposed to symbolize 
the Christian dispensation. The Grand Gallery 
is a large chamber rising at an angle of about 26° 
It is about 82 inches wide, 340 inches high, and, 
on its floor line, 1881*6 inches long. On each side 
there is a solid stone bench, or "ramp," 21 inches 
high and 20 inches wide. Its sides are constructed 
of seven courses of masonry, each of which over- 
laps, so that at the roof the width is much less 
than it is just above the benches, where it is the 
greatest. Its roof consists of 36 overlapping stones. 
In each bench, up to the step there are 27 little 
excavations, at intervals, called "ramp holes," 
6 inches wide and 22 inches long. The end walls, 
like the sides, are built of seven layers of stone, 
and the south wall is not vertical, but leans 
inward, so that the length of the Gallery, as 
measured along a line, graven in the solid rock by 
the builders, about half way up the side, is 
1878'4 inches. Across the upper, or south end, 
there is a stone bench 36 inches high, and 61 in- 
ches long, called the "Great Step." 

Most students of the Great Pyramid, who be- 
lieve in its prophetic character, suppose that the 
Grand Gallery symbolizes the Christian dispen- 
sation as commencing with the birth of Christ 
about A. D. 0, and ending, according to the num- 



396 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

ber of inches in its floor measurement, in A. D. 
1881 or 1882. But the opinion of many able chro- 
nologists that our Savior was born in B. C. 5, has, 
we think, in this chapter been substantiated. 
And, furthermore, it has herein been shown that 
all prophetic periods of the Bible that apply to 
the age of Boinanism are expressed in lunar time; 
hence it is supposable that if the chronology 
of the Grand Gallery is of Divine origin, that 
this also is set forth in years of 360 solar days, 
which will have to be reduced to historical years 
of 365'242 days in order that the wonderful reve- 
lations of the "sign and witness unto the Lord of 
hosts in the land of Egypt," may be properly un- 
derstood at the time intended, "the last end of 
the indignation." 

Hence we must search for lunar indications in 
the Grand Gallery. And, as before we can enter 
the "King's Chamber," supposed to represent the 
glorious millennium, we must encounter and sur- 
mount the Great Step, let us inquire what this 
serious obstruction to our progress was designed 
to teach. 

1. The height of the Great Step is 36 inches, 
and a line of this length forms one-half of a side 
of an equilateral triangle the length of whose- 
three sides in inches multiplied by ten (a Pyra- 



THE KECOXSTEUCTIOIS". 397 

mid number), gives 2160, which represents the di- 
ameter of the moon in British miles.* 

2. The 36 inches multiplied by 10 gives 360, the 
number of days in the prophetical year. And 
the 36 overlapping stones with which the whole 
Gallery is covered, show that the length of the 
Christian age is here expressed in years of 360 
days. 

The 36 roof stones multiplied by 10, and the 
product by 7, the number of layers forming the 
sides and ends, give 2520, indicating that the 
period represented by the Grand Gallery forms a 
portion of the history of the human race, whose 
times and seasons have been protracted upon the 
grand scale of a year of iveeks of years. 

Having learned that the time indicated by the 
Grand Gallery is lunar, let us now endeavor to 
deduce from its mysterious symbols the true scale 
of time that is to stand "for a sign and for a wit- 
ness unto the Lord of hosts." 

The length, as measured along the floor and 
on the ramps or benches, is 1881*6 inches, that 
along the graven line on the west wall, 1878*4, and 
the mean of the two is 1880. This number, which 
denotes the time of Roman supremacy in lunar 

* The writer's son, Joseph E. Collom, aged 17, made this discovery Jan. 
13th, 1880. 



398 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

years, will be properly "shortened" by deducting 
27 therefrom, leaving, as the measure of the times 
of the Gentiles, 1853 historical years. The years 
to be deducted, or discounted, are shown by the 
spaces, the ramp holes — 27, on each side, up to 
the "step." The number 1853, dug out, by so 
much labor, from the mine of the Great Pyramid, 
we will now adopt as our guide Number Seven. 

These seven are our principal guides, who will 
conduct us to the end of our journey. There are 
three others who will serve us for a time. 

The Queen's Chamber of the Pyramid, with the 
passage leading to it, is supposed to symbolize 
the condition of the Jews since the time of Christ. 
The low and narrow passage which runs under 
the Grand Gallery, and seems to allude to the 
state of the Jews prior to the Reformation, as be- 
ing in subjection to the Gentiles, is 1519*4 inches 
long; and the Queen's Chamber, which is also 
below the Grand Gallery, but is large, and turns 
towards the West, and hence evidently alludes 
to the improved condition of the Israelites in 
Western Protestant Europe and America from 
the dawn of the Reformation to their return to 
the land of their fathers, is 2267 inches long : 
making the combined lengths of the passage and 
gallery 17461 inches. As the "seventy weeks," 



THE KECONSTRUCTION. 399 

and other numbers that pertain to the Jews, ex- 
press solar years, and as there seems to be no lu- 
nar indications in the Queen's Chamber, we in- 
fer that the 1746 inches signify so many historical 
years. This number we enlist as our guide Num- 
ber Eight. 

The evidence given by the last two Witnesses 
must be brought "to the law and to the testi- 
mony : if they speak not according to this word, 
it is because there is no light in them." But if 
the testimony borne by these two Witnesses un- 
to the Lord of hosts, on being roused from a sleep 
of forty centuries in the land of Egypt, shall coin- 
cide with that of their younger brothers from 
Babylon and Patmos, then we should not hesi- 
tate to regard the Great Pyramid of Egypt, as 
well as our Holy Bible, as of divine origin. 

In Rev. xi. 2 it is stated that "the holy city shall 
they (the Gentiles) tread under foot forty-two 
months." These 42 months, or 1260 years, which 
refer to the crescent-following Moslems, like 
the similar number relating to the moon-light of 
Romanism, will be properly prepared for our use 
by subtracting 18 therefrom ; and the resulting 
1242 solar years we enroll as our guide Number 
Nine. 

In Luke xxi. 25, referring to the time of Christ's 



400 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBEKS. 

second coming, it is stated that "there shall be 
signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the 
stars." This, doubtless, alludes to the approach- 
ing planetary perihelia ; and this we take as our 
guide Nunber Ten. 

That our guides may be on hand when called 
to duty, we will arrange them as follows : 

No. 1. Dan viii. 14. "Two thousand and four 
hundred days" = 2365 years. 

No. 2. Dan. xii. 7 ; and Eev. xii. 14. "A time, 
and times, and half a time" = 345 years. 

No. 3. Dan. xii. 11. "A thousand two hundred 
and ninety days" = 1272 years. 

No. 4. Dan. xii. 12. "A thousand three hun- 
dred and five and thirty days" = 1316 years. 

No. 5. Rev. xiii. 5. "Forty- two months" = 1242 
years. 

No. 6. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 10 ; and Ezek. xxi. 25. A 
day = a year = a year of weeks of years = 2520 
years. 

No. 7. The Pyramid's Grand Gallery = 1853 
years. 

No. 8. The Pyramid's Queen's Chamber and 
passage = 1746 years. 

No. 9. Rev. xi. 2. "Forty-two months" = 1242 
years. 

No. 10. The Planetary Perihelia. 



THE RECONSTRUCTION. 401 

"The secret things belong unto the Lord our 
God : but those things which are revealed belong 
unto us and to our children for ever." Deut. xxix. 
29. Lest the reader should think our proposed 
study of times and events that are future to be 
unwarranted or prohibited in the Bible, we will 
assure him that we shall not attempt to pry into 
"the secret things" (the day a.nd the hour) that 
"belong unto the Lord our God," but only into 
"those things which are revealed" (the years) 
which "belong unto us and to our children for- 
ever." The revelation which God has made is our 
only source of knowledge of divine things, wheth- 
er past, present or future. 

While we do not criticise or condemn the com- 
mendable efforts of former writers who "have en- 
quired and searched diligently" concerning "the 
grace that is to be brought to them at the revela- 
tion of Jesus Christ," "into which things the an- 
gels desire to look" (1 Peter i. 10-13), yet, believ- 
ing that in their time Daniel's seals hid from 
them the truth, we do not adopt their theories 
and opinions; still, in some cases, we grate- 
fully use some historical facts which they have 
gathered. 

It is because we have the command to "search 
the Scriptures ;" because there is a blessing prom- 



J:02 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

ised to those who study the mysteries of the 
Revelation ; and because infidelity pervades the 
world, and woiidliness the Church, that having, 
as we verily believe, correctly adapted the pro- 
phecies to the history of the past, we will now at- 
tempt, by the same divinely appointed means, 
and for the glory of God, and the good of men, 
to indicate the times of the "things that must be 
hereafter." 

But we will first test the knowledge and skill 
of our guides on portions of the domain of the 
Dragon, Beast, and False Prophet, through which 
we have already come, that, having proved their 
trustworthiness in the light of the past, we may 
the more confidently rely upon their guidance in 
the darkness of the future. We will first bring 
forward guide 

No. 1. The cleansing of the sanctuary, 2365 
years. According to the chronology of Petavius, 
Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed by 
Nebuchadnezzar, the few remaining Jews car- 
ried captive to Babylon or scattered elsewhere, 
and the Israel of old ceased to exist as a nation 
in the year B. C. 589. Measuring from this 
memorable point with our 2365 years, we reach a 
date dear to every lover of liberty— 2365 — 589 = 
1776 !— when the political sanctuary was cleansed, 



THE RECONSTRUCTION. 403 

the stone, the Declaration of Independence, was 
cut out of the mountain, Christian ethics, with- 
out hands, and assumed the proper shape to 
begin the demolition of all the colossal fabrics 
of tyranny throughout the world. Or, if we pre- 
fer Ushers computation, which sets A. D. 588 for 
the destruction of Jerusalem, our guage will 
extend from this point to A. D. 1777, the year in 
which the 'Articles of Confederation and Per- 
petual Union of the United States of America 
were agreed to by Congress," which constituted 
the Israel of the Gospel with thirteen States, 
instead of the Israel of the Law with thirteen 
Tribes ("Joseph shall have two portions"), and 
the confederated commonwealth that is to be 
the model for reconstructing the nations of the 
world when "the Lord shall be king over all the 
earth." This was indeed the commencement of 
the cleansing of the sanctuary, or, as the U. S. 
seal expresses it, " Novus Ordo Seclorum — A new 
era in the ages ; " the institution of a free, inde- 
pendent Christian State, "away from the pres- 
ence of the serpent," — the dragonic and Papal 
powers of Europe. 

In the year B. C. 536, Cyrus, king of Prussia, 
issued the first of those decrees which resulted 
in the rebuilding, and restoring of the Temple, 



404 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

Jerusalem, and the Jewish State, in Palestine. 
"Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia, the Lord God 
of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the 
earth ; and he hath charged me to build him an 
house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is 
there among you of all his people? his God be 
with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which 
is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord 
God of Israel, (he is the God) which is in Jerusa- 
lem." Ezra i. 2, 3. With this proclamation of 
Cyrus terminated the seventy years captivity of 
the Jews in Babylon, and their ascendency over 
their enemies now commenced ; and hence at 
the end of 2365 years (2365 - 536 = 1829) we may 
expect some affliction to come upon their modern 
enemies and possessors of Palestine, the Turks : 
"In A. D. 1829, after successfully defeating the 
Turkish armies to the East and North, in Ana- 
tolia and on the shores of the Euxine, the Eus- 
sians passed the Balkans, and fixed their head- 
quarters in the city of Adrianople. On hearing 
of the near approach of the victorious Russians, 
the Sublime Porte submitted to terms of peace 
dictated by the victors. Liberty from the Turk- 
ish yoke was secured to the principalities of 
Moldavia and Wallachia, and not a Turk was 
permitted to reside north of the Danube. The 



THE EECONSTKUCTIO]*. 405 

liberty and independence of Servia, and the 
regions inhabited by Franks in the European 
dominions of Turkey, had their liberty secured 
—Greece being already free. In A. D. 1829, the 
French seized upon Algiers, and converted a 
province of Turkey into a French Colony." — Di- 
vine Hist Church, 221. 

Again, in B. C. 536, Zerubbabel and his com- 
panions went to Juclea to inaugurate the return 
of the Jews from captivity, and the restoration 
of Jerusalem ; and, in A. D. 1829, Sir Moses Mon- 
tefiore, a wealthy London banker, and a relative 
of the Eothschilds, went, with his wife, to Pales- 
tine, and commenced those earnest and per- 
sistent endeavors to improve the condition of 
the Hebrews and effect their return to the land 
of their fathers, a work which he has continued 
to the present time, although he is now nearly a 
hundred years of age. 

As the result of the proclamation of Cyrus the 
altar was erected, the offering of sacrifices insti- 
tuted, and the building of the temple com- 
menced, when the enemies of the Jews wrote to 
Artaxerxes : "Be it known unto the king, that 
the Jews which came up from thee to us, are 
come to Jerusalem, building the rebellious and 
bad city, and have set up the walls thereof and 



406 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

joined the foundations. Be it known now unto 
the king, that if this city be builded, and the 
walls set up again, then will they not pay toll, 
tribute, and custom, and so thou shalt endamage 
the revenue of the kings." Ezra iv. 12, 13. In 
answer to this letter, Artaxerxes gave "com- 
mandment to cause these men to cease, and that 
this city be not builded. . . . Then ceased 
the work of the house of God which is at Jerusa- 
lem. So it ceased unto the second year of the 
reign of Darius, king of Persia." 

Three years after this, in B. C. 519, and just 70 
years from the final captivity in B. C. 589 (Peta- 
vius), Darius commanded to "Let the work of 
this house alone; let the governor of the Jews 
and the elders of the Jews, build this house 
of God in his place." Following this decree the 
Jews enjoyed a season of peace and prosperity 
(B. C. 519-515), during which they built, and 
finished, and dedicated their temple. And now 
let us see what events affecting the condition of 
the Israelites occurred during the corresponding 
period at the end of the 2365 years. 2365 - 519- 
515 - 1846-1850. 

1. In B. C. 519, the Jews obtained favor from 
the king of Persia, who issued an order suspend- 
ing and countermanding a former decree against 



THE RECONSTRUCTION. 407 

their interests ; and in 1846 Sir Moses Montefiorre 
was made a baronet by the Queen of England, 
and, in 1846 he prevailed npon the emperor 
Nicholas to suspend a ukase against the Jews, 
and was invited to visit Poland to suggest meas- 
ures for the amelioration of the condition of its 
Jewish inhabitants." — Am. Cyc, " Montefiore? As 
there are 2,000,000 of Jews in the Russian empire, 
about one-fourth of the number in the world, 
the suspension of the unfavorable ukase was to 
them a matter of great importance. 

2. The political commotions of this period re- 
sulted very favorably to the Hebrews : "Pro- 
claimed in the United States and France, the 
rights of the Jews were recognized in Holland, 
Belgium, Denmark, part of Germany, Canada and 
Jamaica ; in A. D. 1848-9 throughout Germany, 
Italy and Hungary, and finally in Norway and 
England. . . . The revolutionary movement 
of A. D. 1848-9 proved the immense progress of 
the Jews as well as of public opinion since Men- 
delssohn and Leasing." — Am. Cyc, "Hebrews." 

In Dan. ix. 25, it is indicated that during 
"seven weeks," or 49 years, the street and the wall 
of Jerusalem should u be built again," "even in 
troublous times." The 49 years commenced 
with the decree of Cyrus in B. C. 536, ends in B. 



408 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

C. 487 ; and the 2365 years begun at the latter 
date will reach down to the year 1878, whose im- 
portant events have already been noticed. 

No. 2. The Woman in the wilderness. 345 years. 
It has been shown that the time and times and 
half a time of Dan. vii. 25 equals 345 years, and 
applies to the persecution of the Church in the 
wilderness from A. D. 1210 to 1555. So we may 
infer that the similar numbers of Dan. xii. 7, and 
Rev. xii. 14 also equals 345 years, and when called 
upon to do so, will properly designate the period 
of the Woman's second retirement to the wilder- 
ness. 

No. 3. "The abomination that maketh desolate,'''' 
1272 years. It has already been shown that this 
number applies to Islamism, and that it indicated 
the pouring of the sixth plague upon the Turkish 
empire in A. D. 1878. Hence we may hope that 
it will prove a reliable guide in all matters per- 
taining to "the abomination that maketh deso- 
late," to our journey's end. 

No. 4. "Blessed is he that cometh" 1316 years. 
This number relates especially to the advent of 
the blessed Jesus who is todestroy "that Wicked," 
the Papal Antichrist, with the brightness of his 
coming (2 Thess. ii. 8.), and it applies first to the 
coming in A. D. 1870-1 of a type of Christ, king 



THE EECONSTEUCTION. 409 

Victor Emanuel,— the conquering God-ivith-us, 
who completely destroyed the temporal power of 
the Pope. Hence we may expect it to point out 
the time of the future antitypical coming of the 
Lord Jesus to reap His harvest, and "gather all 
nations and bring them down into the valley of 
Jehoshaphat," and finally to receive "dominion, 
and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations 
and languages should serve him." 

No. 5. The ten-horned beast. 1242 years. As this 
faithful guide has unerringly led us during the 
past 360 years, and shown us fifteen encounters 
between the Protestants and Romanists we 
need not doubt his ability to lead us to the scene 
of the final overthrow of the Dragon and Beast. 

No. 6. " Until he come whose right it is." 2520 
years. Owing to the imperfections and uncer- 
tainties of the chronology of the times prior to B. 
C. 800 we can make but little use of this long 
period ; but we will suggest that upon this grand 
scale the times and seasons of man upon the earth 
have been protracted ; and that the whole time 
from Adam's creation and fall to the coming of 
the Second Adam to "bring in everlasting right- 
eousness," will be three times this period or 7560 
years commencing with the creation of man in 
B. C. 5637 (Hales gives 5411, Clement of Alexan- 



410 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

dria 5624, some chronologists more, others less), 
and ending with the d v truction of evil in A. D. 
1923. These three great days may be divided 
into six periods of 1260 years each, during the 
last of which the Antichrist reigns, and during a 
seventh the saints shall "reign with Christ a 
thousand years." 

No. 7. The Great Pyramid's Grand Gallery. 
1853 years. The testimony that this ancient "wit- 
ness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt'' 
has to bear entirely relates to the typical and 
antitypical comings of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
u He shall send them a Savior and a great one, 
and he shall deliver them." Commencing at the 
first corner stone of the foundation of Christian 
history, the birth of Christ in B. C. 5, it indicates 
the memorable event, of A. I). 1848-9 (1853 - 5 = 
1848), when almost every throne of the ten-horned 
monster of Europe was shaken to its very foun- 
dation ; constitutional liberties wrung from the 
despotic monarchs; the Pope, in dismay, fled 
from the scene ; and the "Roman Republic" was 
proclaimed in Italy. These events typify those 
that are to take place in the future, and which 
are soon to be shown us con jointly by our faith- 
ful guides. 

We will now take the testimony of our three 



THE RECONSTRUCTION. 411 

temporary guides, 8, 9 and 10 ; follow them as far 
as they will lead us into the future, then dis- 
charge them and call upon the more competent 
seven to lead us onward in our studies of the pro- 
cess of the reconstruction of the earth for the 
realm of Him "whose right it is." 

No. 8. The Queen's Chamber and its Passage. 
The small passage, 1519"4 years, alludes to the de- 
pressed condition of the Jews until the time of 
the Reformation. "The Reformation found the 
Jews spread in great numbers in Germany and 
Poland. . . . During the century preceeding 
the Reformation their history is marked by per- 
secutions in almost every city and province of 
Germany. . . . The Reformation brought 
peace to the Jews in most parts of Europe, partly 
by diverting the attention of the Church of Rome 
to other and more dangerous enemies, and partly 
by the wise maxims of toleration, which, though 
not the immediate, were not less the legitimate 
fruits of this great revolution in the European 
world." — Smith's Sec. Hist. Jews. 

The Passage and Chamber together are 1746 
inches, which signifies 1746 years. We have al- 
ready seen that Belisarius, in A. D. 534, began 
the recovery of Italy with a declaration of his 
purpose "to deprive the Goths of all the provinces 



412 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

which they unjustly withheld from their lawful 
sovereign," and that, as a counterpart of this, 
Washington and his compatriots, in A. D. 1776 
(534 + 1242 = 1776), began the recovery of this 
country with a declaration of their purpose to 
deprive the British of all the provinces which 
they unjustly withheld from their lawful owners, 
the American people, the children of the Woman. 
And we have also seen that the first act of 
cleansing the political sanctuary, indicated by 
our guide No. 1, was the declaration in 1776 (,2365 
— 589 = 1776) of the inalienable rights of all men 
to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. So 
we shall here see that in the estimation of the 
designer of the Queen's Chamber, the recovery 
and reconstruction of the political world with 
the Israelites as the key-stone in the arch of the 
nations, commenced with the glorious Declara- 
tion of Independence in A. D. 1776. Measuring 
with the Queen's Chamber number from the res- 
urrection of Him who announced the heavenly 
truth, "all ye are brethren," we reach the resur- 
rection and incorporation of the same divine 
truth into the Declaration of Independence in A. 
D. 1776 (30 + 1746 - 1776). 

The conflicts which resulted in the final de- 
struction of Jerusalem, when "the ruins which 



THE RECONSTRUCTION. 413 

Titus had left were razed to the ground and the 
plow passed over the foundation of the Temple," 
and the "Jews were forbidden to enter it on pain 
of death," were begun by Hadrian in A. D. 132, 
and successfully ended by him in A. D. 135. Com- 
menced at the former date the Queen's Chamber 
number reaches exactly to 1878 (132 + 1746 = 
1878), when, by the Berlin Congress, and the An- 
glo-Turkish treaty, measures were adopted that 
will soon result in the suppression of the Moslems 
in Jerusalem. 

In A. D. 135, by the success of the Jews' enemies, 
the Komans, the Israelites were expelled from 
the Holy City, and in A. D. 1881 (135 + 1746 = 
1881) we may expect that, by the success of the 
Jews' friends, the British, the Turks will be ex- 
pelled from Jerusalem, and the Jews restored ; 
and in confirmation of this evidence comes Wit- 
ness No. 3, with testimony as follows : 

No. 3. "The abomination that maketh desolate," 
1272 years. In A. D. 606 Mohammed began to fab- 
ricate his system of religion to take the place of 
Judaism and Christianity, and in A. D. 1878 (606 
+ 1272 = 1878) the Berlin and Anglo-Turkish 
treaties were fabricated, tending to the suppres- 
sion of Islamism and the re-establishment of Ju- 
daism and Christianity in its place. And, as in 



414 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

A. D. 609, Mohammed left the place of his retire- 
ment, the cave of Hira, and commenced to prop- 
agate his doctrines, so we may infer that in A. D. 
1881 (609 + 1272 = 1881) the apparent inaction of 
those who are to suppress "the abomination that 
maketh desolate," will end, and they will begin 
those decisive measures that will finally destroy 
the polity of the False Prophet. 

No. 9. "The Holy City {Jerusalem) they {the 
Mohammedans) shall tread under foot forty-hoo 
months ." =1242 years. As we have already seen, 
the Saracens began the capture of Jerusalem and 
the conquest of Palestine in A. D. 636, and com- 
pleted the work in A. D. 639. From the former 
date the 1242 years reach to A. D. 1878 (636 -f 
1242 = 1878), and from the latter date to A. D. 
1881 (639 + 1242 = 1881. During the former period 
of three years Islamism was established in Jeru- 
salem and Palestine, and during the latter three 
years, it is probable, the power and religion of 
the Turks will be dis-established there. Here we 
have three concurrent testimonies, — the first 
from the Great Pyramid, the second from the 
book of Daniel, and the third from the Revela- 
tion. 

The next events to be considered are those of 
the year 1883. Further on it will be shown that 



THE RECONSTRUCTION. 415 

the final termination of the age of Romanism, 
and the taking of the kingdom by the saints of 
the Most High, will be in the year 1923 ; but here 
we have to notice the events to occur at the leav- 
ing of the spiritual Egypt, forty years previous 
to entering the antitypical Canaan. 

We will first take the concluding testimony of 
guide No 9, 1242 years. On completing the subju- 
gation of Palestine, the Saracens began to invade 
Egypt in A. D. 639, and effected the capture of 
Alexandria and the conquest of the land of the 
Pyramids in A. D. 641. Well, guide, what of the 
land of Egypt ? 

1. To Egypt God sent Moses to deliver His own 
people from bondage. 

2. In Egypt the Israelites were resurrected to 
a new national life. 

3. The plagues were visited upon those from 
whose bondage the Hebrews escaped. 

4. Being raised to a new life the Israelites 
started on their journey toward Canaan. 

5. Only those who had the sprinkled blood es- 
caped when the destroying angel smote the 
Egyptians. 

6. Those only who had the sprinkled blood 
left the scene of destruction to be with Christ 40 
years preparatory to occupying Canaan. 



416 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

7. Those who had been raised to a new life 
were for 40 years with Christ sustained in an un- 
earthly manner. u He had rained down manna 
upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn 
of heaven. Man did eat angel's food : he sent 
them meat to the full." Psa. lxxxvii. 24, 25. "And 
did all eat of the same spiritual meat ; and did 
all drink of the same spiritual drink : for they 
drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: 
and that Eock was Christ." 1 Cor. x. 3, 4. 

The counterpart of this will doubtless occur 
when the Saints of the Most High shall escape 
from the bondage of Romanism, which is the 
antitypical Sodom and Egypt (Rev. xi. 8), in A. 
D. 1883 (641 + 1242 = 1383). 

1. To this modern Egypt will God "send Jesus 
Christ," a Prophet like Moses (Acts iii. 19-23,) to 
deliver His own people from bondage. 

2. The saints of God will now be resurrected 
to a new and eternal life (1 Cor. xv. 51-54). 

3. The plagues of the wrath of God will be 
visited upon those from whom the saints escape 
(2 Thess. i. 6-10). 

4. Being raised to a new life the saints will 
enter upon their 40 years journey toward the 
heavenly Canaan. 

5. Those only upon whose hearts the cleans- 



THE BECONSTKUCTION. 417 

ing blood of Christ has been sprinkled will escape 
from destruction. 

6. Those who shall have the sprinkled blood 
will leave the scene of destruction and be with 
Christ 40 years preparatory to occupying the 
antitypical Canaan. 

7. Those who shall be raised to the new life 
will be for forty years with Christ, sustained in 
an unearthly manner by "angel's food." 

From this and the corresponding testimony to 
be borne by other guides we conclude : 

1. That in the year A. I). 1883 the first resur- 
rection, that of the saints (Eev. xx. 4-6), and the 
appearance of the Son of Man on the cloud to 
reap His harvest (Rev. xiv. 14-16), will take place. 

2. That the resurrected dead, together with 
the changed living, who shall be caught up in 
clouds to meet the Lord in the air will be for 40 
years in the heavens with Christ, sustained as are 
the angels. 

3. That after being in the heavens with their 
Lord for forty years, the disciplined saints will 
return to the earth and there "reign with Christ 
a thousand years." Matt. xix. 28 ; Rev. v. 10; 
Rev. xx. 4. 

4. That during these 40 years will occur the 
judgment of the nations in the valley of Jehosh- 



418 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

apliat (Joel iii.) the treading of the great wine- 
press of the wrath of God (Eev. xiv. 17-20,) ; and 
"the battle of that great day of Grod Almighty" 
in Armageddon (Eev. xvi. 13-21). This is the 
time of the seventh plague. In the Old Testa- 
ment, as well as in the New, it is described as a 
time of dreadful wars, pestilences, famines, etc. 

Of the effects of the approaching planetary 
perihelia during this time Dr. Knapp writes : 
"But lively times in physic— lively times for doc- 
tors and undertakers also— may be looked for by 
those who believe in the certainties of astronomy, 
all the way from now to then, for Uranus will 
not complete his perihelion circuit until the go- 
ing out of the nineteenth century, and Neptune 
until 1923 ; so that the malign influences may be 
looked for under every recurring perihelion ap- 
proach of Jupiter during the cycle in which we 
are now sailing, viz., of 1830, 1892, 1904 and 1916." 

It is, doubtless, to the time of the first resur- 
rection that the many admonitory parables of our 
Lord refer; those in which he represents His 
coming to be suddenly, unexpectedly and as a 
thief in the night. "Watch, therefore, and pray 
at all times, that you may be accounted worthy 
to escape all these things that shall come to pass, 
and to stand before the Son of Man? Luke xxi. 



THE RECONSTRUCTION. 419 

36. Isaiah, also seems to allude to the security of 
the people of God while the wicked are being 
punished: "Come, my people, enter thou into 
thy chambers and shut thy doors about thee: 
hide thyself, as it were, for a little moment, until 
the indignation be overpassed. For behold, the 
Lord cometli out of his place to punish the in- 
habitants of the earth for their iniquity: the 
earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no 
more cover her slain." Isa. xxvi. 20, 21. 

Respecting the time of Christ's second advent 
we read in Luke xxi. 25-28 : "And there shall be 
signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the 
stars ; and on the earth, distress of nations in 
perplexity ; the sea and its waves roaring ; men's 
hearts failing on account of the fearful expecta- 
tion of the things that are coming on the land : 
for the hosts of the heaven shall be shaken. And 
then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a 
cloud, with power and great glory. When these 
things begin to take place, look up, and lift 
up your heads; for your redemption draws 
near." 

This expresses the present condition of the 
world : 

1. The "signs in the sun, and in the moon, and 
in the stars" evidently allude to the planetary 



420 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

perihelia, concerning which Prof. B. Gr. Jenkins, 
Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, in the 
conclusion of an article published in the Pali- 
Mall Gazette, of March 6, 1879, says : "In conclu- 
sion, I would say that within the next seven 
years there will happen that which has not hap- 
pened for hundreds of years : all the planets at 
or near their nearest point to the sun about the 
same time. It is true of the earth that its mag- 
netic intensity is greater about the time when it 
is near the sun ; the same is probably true of all 
the planets ; therefore we may expect extraordi- 
nary magnetic phenomena during the next seven 
years, and great plagues, which will manifest 
themselves in all their intensity when Jupiter is 
about three years from his perihelion— that is, in 
1883." 

.2. No one familiar with the present state of 
the political, religious and social world, especial- 
ly of Europe, can fail to see that this is a time of 
"distress of nations in perplexity," and that 
men's hearts are failing on account of the fear- 
ful expectation of the things that are coming on 
the land ;" how insecurely crowns sit upon the 
heads of monarchs ; that the foundation of every 
throne is, as it were, a seething volcano, liable at 
any moment to engulf it : that the severe repres 



THE EECONSTEUCTION. 421 

sive laws of Russia, Germany, and other states 
tend only to exasperate, consolidate and strength- 
en the Communists, Socialists and Nihilists ; and 
that the inevitable doom of the Dragon, Beast 
and False Prophet cannot be long delayed. 

3. But this time, so full of evil forebodings to 
despots and unbelievers, is, to the child of Grod, 
a season of joyful anticipation, in which he looks 
up, and lifts up his head, in - delightful hope of 
soon seeing "the Son of Man coming in a cloud, 
with power and great glory," to effect the final 
redemption of those "who look for His appear- 
ing." 

No. 4. ''Blessed is he that cometh" 1316 years. 
This number, as before stated, refers exclusively 
to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is 
based upon the rise of the Papal Antichrist, Its 
first application, as we have seen, is to the incip- 
iency of the Papal period in A. D. 554, and the 
taking away of the temporal power of the Pope 
in A. D. 1870, by Victor Emanuel. By the test of 
the numbers 666 and 42 months, we have proved 
that the second great step in the rise of the Pa- 
pacy was in A. D. 567. In this year the Supreme 
Euler of the Roman world, Justin II., through 
the solicitations of his wife, Sophia, removed the 
avaricious, self -aggrandizing eunuch, Narses, and 



422 THE PROPHETIC LUMBERS. 

sent his deputy, Longinus, to govern Italy with 
supreme authority ; who took away the consuls, 
senate, magistrates, and everything that pertain- 
ed to the former Imperial and Gothic dominion, 
and instituted a new form of government under 
dukes, or leaders of armies. In conformity with 
this we saw in the seventeenth chapter that in 
A. D. 1809, at the end of the 42 months (567 -{- 
1242 = 1809), typical of the events to occur in A. 
D. 1883, the great Emperor Napoleon sent to Italy 
his deputies, who took away the authority of the 
Pope ; and "the remainder of the Roman States 
were incorporated with the French empire, Nap- 
oleon declaring that he deemed it proper for the 
security of his empire, and of his people, to take 
back the grant of Charlemagne." So in A. D. 
1883 (567 + 1316 = 1883) we may expect that the 
Supreme Ruler of the Universe, through the sol- 
icitations of "the bride, the Lamb's wife," and 
for the security of His empire and people, will 
send Jesus Christ (Acts iii. 20), His deputy, who 
will remove and supersede the avaricious, self- 
aggrandizing (2 Thess. ii. 4) Idol Shepherd (Zech. 
xi. 17), and Antichrist of Rome, and institute a 
new form of government under dukes, or leaders 
of armies (Rev. xix. 14), which, in the valley of 
Jehoshaphat, and at Armageddon, will utterly 



THE RECONSTRUCTION'. 423 

destroy the doomed legions of the Dragon, Beast 
and False Prophet. The scenes of the period 
from A. D. 1883 to 1923 are delineated in the 19th 
chapter of the Revelation ; and the warning to 
the world to flee this coming wrath is in Rev. 
xiv. 9-14 : "If any one worship the beast and his 
image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in 
his hand, even he shall drink of the wine of the 
wrath of Gk)d, which is prepared, without mixture, 
in the cup of his indignation," etc. 

JVo.7. The Grand Gallery. 1853 years. This num- 
ber also alludes to the coming of our Lord Jesus 
Christ : first to institute, and then to terminate, 
the great tribulation now under consideration. 
"For they shall cry unto the Lord because of the 
oppressors, and he shall send them a Savior, and 
a great one, and he shall deliver them." Isa, xix. 
20. Having before indicated that this number 
reaches from the birth of Christ to the great 
events of A. D. 1848, we have now to show to 
what it will reach from the other corners of the 
foundation of Christian history. It will be re- 
membered that the seventieth week of Dan. ix. 
27, the final probationary period of the Jews, in 
which they rejected their Messiah and His dis- 
ciples, was from A. D. 26 to 33. From this time, 
the 1853 years lead us down to A. D. 1879-1886 



424 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

(26 -f 1853 = 1879), the very period of seven years, 
during which, according to Prof. Jenkins, the evil 
influences of the planetary perihelia will most 
seriously affect the earth. 

In this chapter it has been shown that the 280 
years reached from the resurrection of Christ in 
A. D. 30 to the resurrection of the Antichrist in 
A. D. 310, and that the 1242 years extended from 
the resurrection of Constantine, in A. D. 310, to 
the resurrection of the Witnesses in A. D. 1552, 
and now we have to show that the Grand Gallery's 
number reaches from the resurrection of our 
blessed Savior in A. D. 30, to 1883 (30 + 1853 = 
1883), when, as the other numbers have indicated, 
the resurrection of the righteous dead will take 
place. "Blessed and holy is he that has part in 
the first resurrection ; over such the second 
death has no power : but they shall be priests of 
God and of the Christ, and shall reign with him 
a thousand years." "Let us rejoice and be glad, 
and give glory to him : for the marriage of the 
Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself 
ready. And to her was given that she should be 
clothed in fine linen, clean and white ; for the 
fine linen is the righteousness of the saints." 
Rev. xix. 7, 8. It is a pleasing thought that, not- 
withstanding the present worldliness of the 



THE RECONSTRUCTION. 425 

Church, when the heavenly Bridegroom shall 
come for His faithful Bride, His Wife will be 
prepared and ready to. meet Him, being clothed 
with the resplendent robes of His righteous- 
ness. Oh, for a million heralds to proclaim, "Be- 
hold, the Bridegroom comes, go you out to meet 
him." 

During the period of the great tribulation, the 
Jews are to be gathered back to Palestine : "For, 
behold, in those days, and in that time, when I 
shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jer- 
usalem, I will gather all nations, and bring them 
down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will 
plead with them there for my people and for my 
heritage, Israel, whom they have scattered 
among the nations, and parted my land." Joel iii. 
1,2. 

u And at that time shall Michael stand up, the 
great prince which standeth for the children of 
thy people ; and there shall be a time of trouble, 
such as never was since there was a nation, even 
to that same time : and at that time thy people 
shall be delivered, every one that shall be found 
written in the book." Dan. xii. 1. 

From the wilderness of the nations, impover- 
ished by the removal of the Christians, the salt, 
while the world is being trodden under foot, as 



426 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

the great wine-press of the wrath of God, through 
much affliction, will a remnant of Israel be 
brought back to a possession of the land of prom- 
ise. Ezek. xx. 33-38. The time during which they 
shall be recovered from their captivity among the 
nations, like that from Egypt, will be 40 years : 
"According to the days of thy coming out of the 
land of Egypt will I show unto him marvellous 
things." Micah vii. 15. 

To make room for the Jews, the Turks will be 
removed from Palestine, and as our guide No. 3 
professes a knowledge of Mohammedanism, be- 
fore we follow him further we must carefully ex- 
amine his credentials. 

As there are several prophecies respecting the 
setting up of "abominations," and several histori- 
cal events by which the predictions seem to be 
fulfilled, it is very important to ascertain to 
which of the abominations Dan. xii. 11 alludes. 
Dan. xi. 31, reads : "And arms shall stand on his 
part and they shall pollute the sanctuary of 
strength, and they shall take away the daily sac- 
rifice, and they shall place the abomination that 
maketh desolate." This prophecy doubtless re- 
fers to the first desecration of the temple built at 
Jerusalem by the captives returned from Baby- 
lon ; which was effected in B. C. 170-167 by Anti- 



THE RECONSTRUCTION". 427 

ochus Epiplianes, and is described in the first 
chapter of the first book of Maccabees : "And 
there came out of them a wicked root, Antiochus 
siirnamed Epiplianes, the son of Antiochus the 
king, who had been a hostage at Borne, and he 
reigned in the hundred and thirty and seventh 
year of the kingdom of the Greeks. . . . And 
after that Antiochus had smitten Egypt, he re- 
turned again in the hundred forty and third 
year, and went up against Israel and Jerusalem 
with a great multitude, and entered proudly into 
the sanctuary and took away the golden altar, 
and the candlestick of light, and all the vessels 
thereof. And the table of show-bred, and the 
pouring vessels, and the vials, and the censers of 
gold, and the vail, and the croAvns, and the golden 
ornaments that are before the table, all which he 
pulled off. He took also the silver and the gold, 
and the precious vessels : also he took the hidden 
treasures which he found. And when he had 
taken all away, he went into his own land, having 
made a great massacre, and spoke very proudly. 
. . . For the king had sent letters by messen- 
gers unto Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, that 
they should follow the strange laws of the land, 
and forbid burnt-offerings, and sacrifices, and 
drink-offerings in the temple ; and that they 



428 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

should profane the Sabbath and festival days : 
and pollute the sanctuary and the holy people : 
set up altars, and groves, and chapels of idols, 
and sacrifice swine's flesh, and unclean beasts. 
. . . Now the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, 
in the hundred forty and fifth year, they set up 
the abomination of desolation upon the altar, 
and builded idol altars throughout the cities of 
Judah on every side : And burnt incense at -the 
doors of their houses, and in the street." Jose- 
phus states the same facts in his "Antiquities of 
the Jews," Book xii. Chap. v. 

The prophecies relating to the next spoilation 
of the temple are recorded in Dan. viii. 11, 12 : 
and ix. 26, 27. This was done by the Romans 
under Titus in A. D. 70, when Jerusalem and the 
temple were destroyed, nearly 1,500,000 Jews slain, 
thousands sold as slaves, and the Jewish polity 
annihilated. To this our Savior referred, Matt. 
xxiv. 15, 16 : "When ye therefore shall see the 
abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel 
the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso read- 
eth let him understand): Then let them which 
be in Judea flee into the mountains." This in- 
junction of our Lord the Christians of Jerusalem 
obeyed in fleeing to Pella, east of the Jordan, as 
soon as they saw the city being invested by the 



THE RECONSTRUCTION". " 429 

Komans, while the non-Christian Jews, expecting 
their Messiah to come as their deliverer, instead 
of to answer their prayer, "His blood be upon us, 
and our children," remained there, and were 
destroyed. 

As, begun at the setting up of either of these 
"abominations," the 1272 years will not reach to 
the end of the "times of the Gentiles," we have 
to search for the setting up of another abomina- 
tion — that referred to in the explicit prophecy of 
Dan. xii. 11. 

We have already seen that the armies of the 
Saracen caliph, Omar, invested Jerusalem in A. 
I) 636, and after a siege of four months, the 
Christians being reduced to the greatest extrem- 
ities, surrendered the city. Omar "granted them 
honorable conditions, he would not allow any of 
their churches to be taken from them ; but only 
demanded of the Patriarch, with great modesty, 
a place where he might build a mosque. The 
Patriarch showed him Jacob's stone, and the 
place where the temple of Solomon had been 
built, which the Christians had filled with ordure 
in hatred to the Jews. Omar began himself to 
cleanse the place, and he was followed in this act 
of pietv by the principal officers of his army ; and 
it was in this place that the first mosque was 



430 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

erected in Jerusalem. Soplironius the Patriarch, 
said upon Omar's taking possession of the city : 
'This is of a truth the abomination of desolation 
spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the 
holy place.' "—Diss. PropL, 419. 

The Patriarch was right, for the establishment 
of the power and religion of the Saracens in Jeru- 
salem and Palestine, and the erection of the 
mosque of Omar upon the site of Solomon's tem- 
ple, was the setting up of "the abomination that 
maketh desolate," referred to in Dan. xii. 11. So 
now we need not question the ability of guide 
No. 3 to show us the relation between the setting 
up and the taking down of "the abomination that 
maketh desolate." Guides No. 8, 9 and 10, having 
assisted No. 3 to indicate the events of 1878, 1881, 
and 1883, we now discharge, being fully assured 
that the latter is competent to lead us safely on- 
ward. 

The next noticeable event in the rise of Islam- 
ism, after Mohammed began to preach in A. D. 
609 occurred in A. 1). 622, the year of the Hegira, 
"the grand era of the Mohammedan religion," 
when "Mohammed assumed the exercise of the 
regal and sacerdotal office," and "declared that 
the empire of his religion was to be established 
by the sword." Measuring with the 1272 years 



THE RECONSTRUCTION. 431 

from this point we reach A. D. 1894 (622 + 1272 = 
1894). At this time, it is supposable that some 
severe affliction will befall the disciples of the 
False Prophet. 

In A. D. 636 occurred the memorable battles of 
Yermouk and Cadesiah, by which the armies of 
the Romans and Persians were defeated and the 
entire East prostrated before the victorious Mos- 
lems. "The Persian empire under the Sassanidae 
continued until A. D. 636, when it was over- 
thrown by the Moslems in the great battle of 
Cadesiah." "Palestine remained under the Ro- 
man dominion (part of the time under the eastern 
or Greek empire) until the year 636, when Omar 
conquered Jerusalem." — Willson's Out. Hist. 572, 
574. From A. D. 636 the 1272 years reach down 
to A. D. 1908 (636 + 1272 = 1908). 

As the special department of our guide No. 1 is 
the cleansing of the sanctuary, we must now 
examine his credentials, and take his testimony 
concerning the time when that work shall be 
undertaken. 

Two years after Daniel had the wonderful 
vision recorded in Dan. vii. he "was at Shushan, 
in the palace which is in the province of Elam," 
when he saw his second vision, in which there 
appeared a ram with two horns (the Medo-Persian 



432 • THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

power), then a lie-goat (the Macedonian empire) 
which had a notable horn (Alexander the Great) 
between his eyes. After this there came forth a 
little horn, which waxed exceeding great (the 
Roman power) by which the temple at Jerusalem 
was destroyed. And then in answer to the ques- 
tion which Gabriel asked Palmoni as to how long 
the transgression of desolation should continue, 
and the sanctuary, or the site of Solomon's tem- 
ple should be trodden under foot by the Gentiles, 
he was told that these things should continue 
for 2400 years, and then the sanctuary should be 
cleansed from Gentile defilement. After this, 
Daniel "heard a man's voice between the banks 
of the Ulai, which called and said, Gabriel, make 
this man to understand the vision." Then the 
angel Gabriel came, and said to Daniel, "Behold, 
I will make thee know what shall be in the last 
end of the indignation : for at the time appointed 
the end shall be." As Gabriel described the 
symbolic "ram," "he-goat," and "king of fierce 
countenance" who should "destroy the mighty 
and the holy people," the Jews, Daniel "was 
astonished at the vision," and could hear no 
more, for he fainted and was sick certain days : 
and without making a full explanation, Gabriel 
had to return to heaven, until Daniel should be 



THE RECOXSTlZUCTIOjtf. 433 

able to receive instruction respecting the rest of 
the vision. 

After the lapse of fifteen years ; on learning 
from the writings of Jeremiah that the seventy 
years of the captivity were soon to end, Daniel 
cflers that wonderful prayer, Dan. ix. 4-9, in be- 
half of the children of Israel, Jerusalem, and "the 
sanctuary that is desolate." And he says, 
"Whilst I was speaking in prayer, even the man 
Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the be- 
ginning (the vision of the eighth chapter), being 
•caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time 
of the evening oblation. And he informed me, 
and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am 
now come forth to give thee skill and understand- 
ing. At the beginning of thy supplications the 
commandment came forth, and I am come to 
show thee ; for thou art greatly beloved ; there- 
fore understand the matter, and consider the 
vision." 

The angel Gabriel now comes again and im- 
mediately takes up the subject of the vision on 
the banks of Ulai, which, owing to Daniel's 
astonishment and fainting had only been par- 
tially explained at the former interview. In his 
former instructions Gabriel had proceeded so far 
as to mention the part of the vision relating to 



434 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

the 2400 days, or evening-mornings, as in the mar- 
gin, assuring Daniel that it was true, but gave 
no explanation of it ; and now he begins right at 
the point where he then left off, by saying, 
"Seventy weeks are determined (or cut off from 
the 2400 years) upon thy people, and upon thy 
holy city," etc. Thus signifying that the first 
490 years of the 2400 were allotted to the Jews, 
and that the rest of the long period was to consti- 
tute "the times of the Gentiles." 

This matter is explained in the third chapter, 
where it is shown that the period of the 70 weeks, 
or 490 years, commenced B. C. 457 : and hence we 
can now see that the 2400 years must begin at 
that time also. As already stated, the true length 
of this period is 2365 historical years. And now 
let us see when the cleansing of the sanctuary 
will begin: 2365 - 457 = 1908! "How great are 
his signs ! and how mighty are his wonders !" 

Seeing that our guides No. 1 and 3 have desig- 
nated the year 1908 as a time of important events, 
let us now inquire what will then take place ? 

1. As in A. D. 636 the power of the Christians 
and Magians of the East was broken, and every 
serious obstacle to the setting up of "the abomi- 
nation that maketh desolate,"— the power, relig- 
ion and mosques of the Saracens— was removed, 



THE EECONSTRUCTION. 435 

so we may expect that in A. D. 1908 the power of 
the Mohammedans in the East will be broken, 
and every serious obstacle to the cleansing oi 
the sanctuary — the institution of the power, re- 
ligion, temple and churches of the Jews and 
Christians -will be removed. This was typified 
by the events of 1878. 

2. In the year B. C. 457, "Artaxerxes, king of 
kings," issued the final decree (Ezra vii.) for the 
suppression of the Jews' enemies in Palestine, and 
the restoration of the Jewish Theocratic Com- 
monwealth, by commanding "Ezra the priest, a 
scribe of the law of the God of heaven," "that all 
they of the people of Israel, and of his priests 
and Levites, which are minded of their own free 
will to go up to Jerusalem," "and to carry the 
silver and gold, which the king and his counsel- 
lors have freely offered unto the God of Israel, 
whose habitation is in Jerusalem ; and all the 
silver and gold that thou canst find in all the 
province of Babylon, for the house of their God 
which is in Jerusalem;" by ordering that "what- 
soever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it 
be diligently done for the house of the God of 
heaven ;" and by re-establishing the civil and re- 
ligious polity of the law of Moses : — "And thou, 
Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God that is in thine 



436 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

hand, set magistrates and judges, which may 
judge all the people that are beyond the river, 
all such as know the laws of thy God ; and teach 
ye them that know them not. And whosoever 
will not do the law of thy God, and the law of 
the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon 
him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, 
or to confiscation of goods, or to imprison- 
ment." 

So in A. D. 1908 (2365 - 457 = 1908) it is prob- 
able that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords 
will issue a decree for the re-establishment of the 
Jewish Theocratic Commonwealth according to 
the laws of the God of heaven ; "and the wealth 
of all the heathen round about shall be gathered 
together, gold, silver and apparel, in great abun- 
dance" (Zecli. xiv. 14), carried back by the return- 
ing Jews. "Surely the isles shall wait for me, 
the ships of Tarshish (England) first, to bring 
thy sons from far, their silver and their gold 
with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, 
and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath 
glorified thee." Isa. lx. 9. 

The restoration of Jerusalem, as resumed by 
Ezra in A. D. 457, was soon interrupted, for in A. 
D. 446 Nehemiah met, in Shushan, Hanani, "and 
certain men of Judah, and asked them concern- 



THE KECONSTKUCTION. 437 

ing the Jews that had escaped, which were left 
of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 
And they said unto him, The remnant that are 
left of the captivity there in the province are in 
great affliction, and reproach, the wall of Jeru- 
salem also is broken down, and the gates thereof 
are burned with fire." Hearing this, JNehemiah 
"sat down and wept, and mourned certain 
days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of 
heaven." 

In the next year (A. D. 445) Artaxerxes allowed 
his cup-bearer to go to Judah to repair the wall 
of Jerusalem, and to complete the restoration of 
the Jewish State, which had been commenced by 
Zerubbabel, and prosecuted by Ezra ; and by the 
exercise of wonderful prudence and energy, in a 
short time he succeeded, in opposition to the mal- 
ice and intrigues of his enemies, in finishing the 
wall, perfecting the appointment of the priests, 
Levites, singers, porters and Nethinims ; estab- 
lished the reading of the law of Moses, the ob- 
servance of the Sabbath, and the proper services 
of the temple ; kept the Feast of Tabernacles, 
such as had not been kept since the time of 
Joshua, and made a new covenant with Jehovah, 
which was signed and sealed by the "princes, 
Levites and priests," "to walk in God's law, which 



438 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

was given by Moses, the servant of God, and 
to observe and do all the commandments of the 
Lord." 

By these acts, which probably ended in B. C." 
442, (Josephns states that Nehemiah's work on 
the walls occupied "two years and four months," 
and that "when the walls were finished, Nehe- 
miah and the multitude offered sacrifices to God 
for building them,") this typical sanctuary was 
cleansed, and this typical Theocracy completely 
established. Consequently in A. D. 1923 (2365 - 
442 = 1923) we may expect the final cleansing of 
the anti-typical sanctuary and the establishment of 
the glorious anti-typical Theocracy of this world; 
when "the Lord shall be King over all the earth" 
(Zech. xiv. 9), "whose kingdom is an everlasting 
kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey 
him." Dan. vii. 27. 

"Yea, Amen ! let all adore thee, 

High on thy eternal throne ; 
Savior take the power and glory ; 

Claim the kingdom for thine own : 
Jan ! Jehovah ! 

Everlasting God, come down!" 

"This is the best place to notice the Milieu avi- 
an doctrine, or Chiliasm, which interpreted the 
promised millennium of the Apocalypse as a lit- 
eral personal reign of Christ upon earth, with His 



THE KECONSTRUCTIO^. 439 

saints, for a thousand years before the resurrec- 
tion and last judgment. But this doctrine, 
though ultimately rejected by the Catholic 
Church, was too frequently held by the early 
Fathers to be ranked among heresies. . . .Even 
the orthodox Fathers (as, in particular, Irenseus) 
refer to an Apostolic tradition in support of a 
millenarian interpretation of that book. Though 
the doctrine provoked much opposition, especial- 
ly at Home and Alexandria, it was not branded 
as a heresy till the time of Constantine,when the 
imperial establishment of Christianity seemed to 
have satisfied the longings of the persecuted 
Church for an earthly reign of Christ, and re- 
conciled them to a more spiritual interpreta- 
tion of His second coming." — Stu. Eccl. Hist, 
233. 

We have seen that all the prophecies relating 
to events up to the present time, though couched 
in highly figurative and symbolical language, 
have been literally fulfilled by the ordinary po- 
litical, ecclesiastical and military transactions of 
men upon the earth : and hence it would be un- 
wise, if not absurd, to say that the prophecies re- 
lating to the return of the Jews to Palestine, the 
second advent, and personal reign of Jesus Christ 
with His saints upon the earth — expressed in 



440 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

language far more explicit than most other pro- 
phetic declarations— will have any other than an 
entirely literal fulfilment. The Old Testament, 
the Gospels, the Epistles and the Revelation are 
all replete with predictions respecting the second 
coming and reign of Christ, and now "the sev- 
enth trumpet speaks him near," yet most Christi- 
ans, the wise as well as the foolish Virgins, are 
fast asleep. Ever since the time of Constantine, 
the Heavenly Bridegroom, who said, "I have 
come in my Father's name and you receive me 
not ; if another should come in his own name, 
him you w^ould receive," has been disowned and 
rejected by His unfaithful spouse. The Church, 
through her criminal intimacy with the civil 
powers and the world, now neither expects, nor 
desires the return of her Divine Lord. The faith- 
ful Bride, the Woman clothed with the sun, both 
before her retirement to the Wilderness and 
after her return at the Bef ormation, was earnestly 
"looking for the blessed hope, and the glorious 
appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus 
Christ;" but since the European churches, after 
being severed from Borne, became married to the 
civil powers, taking the emperors and kings for 
their supreme heads, their worldly, well-paid, 
sumptuously fed and gorgeously clothed (with 



ti:e reconstruction. 441 

moonliglit) liireling shepherds, lil^co those of the 
Mother of Harlots, have discountenanced the 
idea "that our Lord Jesus Christ, the great Shep- 
herd of the sheep," (Hob. xiii. 20 ; 1 Pet. v. 4) will 
come to disarrange their profitable sheep-folds. 
But it is pleasing to know that in Europe, as well 
as in America, the Woman has an increasing 
number of children who continue "to serve the 
living and true God, and to wait for His Son 
from heaven, even Jesus, whom he raised from 
the dead, and who delivers us from the coming 
wrath." 1 Thess. i. 9. 

And now let guide No. 2—345 years— tell us 
when will end the "time, and times, and half a 
time," during which the Woman in the second 
wilderness of her widowhood "away from the 
presence of the serpent" is to mourn the absence 
of her heavenly Bridegroom. In the year 1578, 
the planting of English Protestant colonies in 
America was first contemplated and projected. 
In this year "Queen Elizabeth grants a patent to 
Sir Humphrey Gilbert to such remote, heathen, 
and barbarous lands as he should find in North 
America." So, in accordance with the united 
testimonies of our seven guides, in A. I). 1923 
(1578 + 345 = 1923) to the Lord Jesus Christ shall 
be given "the heathen for his inheritance, and 



442 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

the uttermost parts of the earth for his posses- 
sion." Then, the Dragon, the Beast, and the 
False Prophet, being utterly destroyed, "the 
kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of 
the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be 
given to the people of the saints of the Most 
High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, 
and all dominions shall serve and obey him." 
Dan. vii. 27. 

"Lift your heads, ye friends of Jesus, 

Partners in His patience here : 
Christ, to all believers precious, 

Lord of lords, shall soon appear : 
Mark the tokens 

Of His heavenly kingdom near." 

No. 3. 1272 years. "The abomination that maketh 
desolate." "Two battles, one fought at Cadesia 
in A. D. 636, and the other on the plains, of Ne- 
havend in A. D. 641, where 100,000 men are re- 
ported to have fallen, decided the fate of Persia. 
The defeated monarch flying from the field, took 
refuge in his eastern provinces, where for several 
years, he wandered a fugitive till in A. D. 651 he 
was murdered by a miller, and with him ended 
the line of the Sassanian kings, and the religion 
of the Magi."— Am. Cijc, "Persia." 

"The Persian Ardsshir, whom the Greeks 
called Artaxerxes, overthrew the last Parthian 



THE RECONSTRUCTION. 443 

king, founded the new Persian dynasty of the 
Sassanians, and restored the religion of Zoroas- 
ter." u The Sassanians reigned in Persia from A. 
D. 226, to the Mohammedan conquest in A. D. 
651." Stu. Eceles. Hist 105. 

It has already been shown that "the abomina- 
tion that maketh desolate" is Islamism, which 
Mohammed framed in the cave of Hira from A. 
D. 606 to 609, and was by him established upon 
the ruins of Sabianism and Judaism in Arabia 
from A. D. 609 to 632— the year of his death. In 
A. D. 632, 'Abu-beker, the first caliph, declared 
war against all nations, especially against the 
emperor of Constantinople, and 'the great king 
of Persia,' at that time the most powerful mon- 
arch of the world." It was at this time that 
Abu-beker gave to his generals the command, 
"Destroy no palm trees" etc., already quoted; 
and it was now that "out of the smoke there 
came locusts (the Saracens) upon the earth," — 
the Roman world. Their mission was against 
all existing governments and religions ; but the 
imperial seat of the Christians, Constantinople, 
they were not permitted to destroy, "but to tor- 
ment them fiye months." The Saracens con- 
quered the Christians, and set up their power 
and religion in Syria and Palestine from A. D. 



444 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

632 to 639; in Egypt from A. D. 639 to 641; and 
they subdued the Persians and established Is- 
lamism in the place of the Magian religion from 
A. 1A 636 to 651 : And then they had completed 
the work of setting up u the abomination that 
maketh desolate" upon the ruins of all the great 
religious systems of the East. 

There is no word in the original of Dan. xii. 11 
corresponding with the word "sacrifice" in our 
version, but, doubtless, daily worship, devotion, 
or service is implied ; and the prophecy refers to 
the worship of the Sabians of Arabia, that of 
the Christians of Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, 
and especially to that of the Magians of Persia ; 
whose religious systems were all successively 
suppressed, or "taken away" by the invading 
Saracens. 

Magianism, or the Zend religion, was founded 
or reformed by Zoroaster, some say, about the 
sixth century B. C, others, about B. C. 1200. It 
seems to have been one of those religious sys- 
tems, which, descending from the time of Noah 
retained some knowledge of the true God, but 
mixed with error and superstition. Some histo- 
rians say that Zoroaster was a servant and dis- 
ciple of the prophet Daniel. The "wise men" 
who were led by the star from the East to Beth- 



THE RECONSTRUCTION. 445 

leliem to worship the new-born "King of the 
Jews" were Magians. Nebuchadnezzar placed 
Daniel at the head of the Magian priesthood in 
Babylon — he made him "master of the magicians, 
astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;" (Dan. 
v. 11.) and it is with these men and this religion 
that Daniel and his fellow exiles were associated 
during their captivity. Hence it is to be expected 
that in the divine communication there would 
be some intimation of the fate of the faith and 
worship that Daniel had controlled, improved, 
and in which he must have been deeply in- 
terested. Accordingly, the final suppression of 
Magianism in Persia, and the setting up of u the 
abomination that maketh desolate" upon its 
ruins is placed as the great monumental event 
from which the "thousand two hundred and 
ninety days" are to reach to the end of the present 
dispensation. - 

As in A. D. 651, the religion and power of the 
False Prophet, Mohammed, were established up- 
on the ruins of all former religions and powers, 
so, doubtless, in A. D. 1923 (651 + 1272 = 1923) 
the holy religion and supreme power of the 
True Prophet, Jesus Christ, will be firmly estab- 
lished upon the ruins of all former religions and 
powers. .-.:-.. 



446 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

"He shall reign from pole to pole 

"With illimitable sway : 
He shall reign, when, like a scroll, 

Yonder heavens have passed away. 
Then the end ; — beneath His rod, 

Man's last enemy shall fall ; 
Hallelujah ! Christ in God, 

God in Christ, is all in all." 

No. 4. 1316 years. "Blessed is he that cometh." 
We have seen in former chapters that the su- 
premacy of the world in spiritual matters, though 
held and exercised by the Roman emperors, had 
long been claimed and contested by the Pope of 
Rome and Patriarch of Constantinople, when, in 
A. D. 607, the Emperor Phocas conferred upon 
Pope Boniface III. the coveted title of Universal 
Bishop. Hence, as in A. D. 607 the control of 
the world in spiritual matters was transferred 
from the Imperial to the Papal Antichrist, we 
may infer that to the Blessed One who comes in 
A. D. 1923 (607 + 1316 = 1923) will be transferred 
from the usurper of Rome, the supreme controL 
of the world in spiritual, as well as in temporal 
matters. Measuring from A. D. 607 with the 1242 
years, we come to A. D. 1849, when the Pope's 
power was temporarily taken away ; and meas- 
uring with the 1316 from the beginning of the 
Papal period in A. D. 554-5, we reach 1670-l,when 
the political power of the Pope was entirely taken 



THE EECONSTEUCTION. 447 

from him. Both of these events were typical 
and indicative of what will occur in A. D. 1923, 
when will end the reign of the "Man of Sin," 
"whom the Lord Jesus will destroy by the spirit 
of His mouth, and utterly overthrow by the 
brightness of His coming." 

"Lo ! He comes with clouds descending, 

Once for favored sinners slain ; 
Thousand thousand saints attending, 

Swell the triumph of His train: 
Hallelujah ! 
God appears on earth to reign." 

No. 5. 1242 years. In A. I). 681 the emperor, 
Constantine IV., presided over the sixth "(Ecum- 
enical Council of the Empire; the last recognized 
as such by all the leading churches of Christen- 
dom." In this council "George, the Patriarch of 
Constantinople, followed by all his bishops, ac- 
cepted the decrees of the Pope and the Roman 
Synod." "At the same Council the title ("of 
(Ecumenical Bishop") was claimed for Pope 
Agatho by his legates, and it was henceforth usu- 
ally assumed by the successors of the great 
bishop (Gregory) who disowned and condemned 
it."— Stu. Ecel Hist, 377-8, 493. 

At this time Pope "Agatho laid claim to a priv- 
ilege never yet enjoyed by man : and asserted 
that the Church of Some never had erred, nor 



448 THE PROPHETIC NtTMBERS. 

could err in any point, and that all its constitu- 
tions ought to be as implicitly received as if they 
had been delivered by the divine voice of St. 
Peter. . . . The authority exercised by the 
clergy extended as well to the superior as to the 
inferior classes of mankind ; and the twelfth 
council of Toledo, in the year 681, presumed to 
release the subjects of Wamba from their 
allegiance to their sovereign." — Ruter^s Ch. Hist, 
143, 148. 

Constantine's two brothers having displeased 
him, "he caused their noses to be cut off in the 
presence of the bishops assembled in the sixth 
general Synod of Constantinople. He gained the 
favor of the Church by remitting the payment 
made on the election of a new Pope ; and offered 
the hair of his two sons on the shrine of St. Peter 
as a symbol of their adoption by the Pope."— Am. 
Cyc, "Constantine IV." 

With these materials let us now build a monu- 
ment for our guide No. 5 to measure from. It has 
already been shown that in A. D. 607 the title of 
Universal Bishop was conferred by the murderer 
Phocas upon Pope Boniface III. We have here 
to show that all the blasphemous assumptions 
and despotic prerogatives afterward manifested 
by Gregory VII., Innocent III. and other Popes 



THE RECONSTRUCTION. 449 

were originated or extended by the ambitious 
Agatho in A. D. 681. We may notice : 

1. That in A. D. 681 was held the last of the 
(Ecumenical Councils of the Roman Empire, 
which shows that at this time began the ascend- 
ency of the Papal over the Imperial beast. 

2. Papal in fa llibility was now for the first time 
claimed by the Bishop of Rome. 

3. The title of (Ecumenical Bishop, implying 
spiritual dominion over the whole habitable 
world, was now claimed for, and conferred upon, 
the Roman Pontiff. 

4. At this time "George, the Patriarch of Con- 
stantinople, followed by all his bishops, ac- 
cepted the decrees of the Pope and the Roman 
Synod." 

5. Constantine now virtually conceded the 
independence of the Romish "Church by remit- 
ting the payment made on the election of a new 
Pope." 

6. "The pagans usually appropriated the first 
cuttings of the hair of their children as an offer- 
ing to some of their divinities. This pagan rite 
was, with numberless others, adopted by the 
Christians."— Ruter's Oh. Hist, 171. So the Em- 
peror now recognizes the Pope "as Cod sitting in 
the temple of Cod," and the future subjection of 



450 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

the civil to the ecclesiastical authority by "offer- 
ing the hair of his two sons on the shrine of St. 
Peter, as a symbol of their adoption by the 
Pope," and also by cutting off the noses of his 
two brothers to edify and amuse the assembled 
bishops. 

7. About this time bishops first undertook to 
regulate the succession of monarchs. At the 
twelfth Council of Toledo, by the following edict 
they deposed Wamba, king of the Visigoths, and 
set up Ervigius in his stead : "We declare that 
the people is absolved from all obligation and 
oath by which it was engaged to Wamba, and 
that it should recognize for its only master Ervi- 
gius, whom God has chosen, whom his predeces- 
sor has appointed, and what is still more, whom 
the whole people desires." — Waddingtorts Ch. 
Hist 211. 

Hence we may infer that the counterpart of the 
above will take place in A. D. 1923 ^681 + 1212 = 
1923) ; that then the (Ecumenical Council of the 
heavens, over which the Divine Father presides, 
will terminate the reign of him "whose coming 
is after the working of Satan with all power and 
signs and lying wonders," and the dominion of 
the "ten-horns" that have exercised "authority as 
kings at the same time with the beast ;" proclaim 



THE RECONSTRUCTION. 451 

that "the kingdom of the world has become our 
Lord's and his Christ's and he shall reign from 
age to age ;" and declare that all nations are ab- 
solved from their allegiance to the Dragon, Beast 
and False Prophet, and shall recognize for their 
only master Jesus Christ, whom God has chosen, 
and whom the whole people desires ; and when 
even those who once rejected and pierced their 
Messiah, shall exclaim, "Blessed is he that comes 
in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming 
kingdom of our Father David. Hosanna in the 
highest." 

"Every eye shall now behold Him 

Robed in dreadful majesty ; 
Those who set at naught and sold Him, 

Pierced and nailed Him to the tree, 
Deeply wailing, 

Shall the true Messiah see." 

As a further indication of the rising of the 
Sun of Righteousness on the setting of the Ro- 
man moon the 1335 solar years extend from A. D. 
588, when the title of (Ecumenical Bishop was 
conferred upon the Patriarch of the Greek 
Church, to the terminal year 1923 ; and the same 
remarkable point is reached by the 1260 solar 
years when commenced in A. D. 663, the time 
when Pope Vitalian ordered the exclusive use of 
Latin in public worship throughout Christendom. 



£52 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

No. 6. 2520 years. " Until he comes whose right 
it is." "As I live, saitli the Lord, though Coniah 
the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the 
signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck 
thee thence. . . . And I will cast thee out, 
and thy mother that bare thee, into another 
country where ye were not born ; and there shall 
ye die. . . . O earth ! earth ! earth ! hear ye 
the word of the Lord, Write ye this man child- 
less, a man that shall not prosper in his days : 
for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon 
the throne of David, and ruling any more in 
Judah." Jer. xxii. 24-30. "And thou profane 
wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when 
iniquity shall have an end, thus saitli the Lord 
God : remove the diadem, and take off the crown: 
this shall not be the same : exalt him that is low, 
and abase him that is high. I will overturn, 
overturn, overturn it : and it shall be no more 
until he comes whose right it is ; and I will give 
it to him." Exek. xxi. 25-27. "And Nebuchad- 
nezzar king of Babylon came against the city, 
and his servants did beseige it. And Jehojachin, 
the king of Judah went out to the king of Baby- 
lon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his 
princes and his officers : and the king of Babylon 
took him in the eighth year of his reign. And 



THE RECONSTRUCTION. 453 

he carried out thence all the treasures of the 
house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's 
house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold 
which Solomon king of Israel had made in the 
temple of the Lord, as the Lord had said. And 
he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, 
and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thou- 
sand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths : 
and. none remained, save the poorest sort of the 
people of the land." 2 Kings xxiv. 11-16. 

The above prophecy of Jeremiah declares that 
Coniah, called elsewhere Jeconiah and Jehoia- 
chin, the nineteenth king of Judah, should be 
removed from his throne, given into the hand of 
Nebuchadnezzar, and be carried to a foreign land 
from which he should not return ; that being in 
the sight of God as a "despised broken idol, a ves- 
sel wherein is no pleasure," he and his entire 
dynasty should be cast into a land which they 
knew not ; and that the earth was called upon 
to hear the solemn sentence of Jehovah, which 
declared that none of Coniah's posterity should 
sit upon the throne of David and rule any more 
in Judah. The quotation from Kings shows that 
in fulfilment of Jeremiah's prediction Nebuchad- 
nezzar carried captive to Babylon king Jehoia- 
chin, his mother, his wives, his servants, his 



454 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

princes, his officers, his army, his craftsmen and 
his smiths ; that he carried away all J erusalem, 
so that none remained save the poorest sort of 
the people of the land ; and that he also took 
away the treasures of the palace, and of the 
temple of Solomon. 

So far as the power and independence of the 
kingdom of Judah and the dynasty of Solomon 
are concerned, this was the final as well as the 
principal captivity of the nation ; yet Jerusalem 
for a short time was spared, and over the misera- 
ble remnant left in the land, Mattaniah, an uncle 
of Jehoiachin, reigned as the sworn vassal of 
Nebuchadnezzar, his master, who changed his 
name to Zedekiah. 

Encouraged by several false prophets, the Jews 
expected an early return of their captive king, 
and the end of their captivity, and it seems to 
have been to remove these false hopes from the 
minds of his fellow-exiles that the prophet 
Ezekiel uttered the following respecting God's 
final rejection of Jehoiachin and his posterity, 
coupled with a promise of the establishment of 
the throne and kingdom of which that of David 
and Solomon had been a type, at a time when he 
should "come whose right it is :" "And thou, 
profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is 



THE BECONSTKUCTIOI*. 455 

come when iniquity shall have an end (the "clay," 
or "year," or year of weeks of years, or 2520 years 
during which the iniquity of Israel and of all 
other nations shall be purged away), thus saith 
the Lord God ; Remove the diadem, take off the 
crown : this shall not he the same (no indepen- 
dent monarch of Solomon's line shall again 
reign) ; exalt him that is low (the line of the ob- 
scure Nathan), and abase him that is high (the 
magnificent Solomon). I will overturn, overturn, 
overturn it (the dominion of Israel) : and it shall 
be no more until he comes whose right it is ; and 

1 will give it to him." 

The idea that man's probationary state is to be 
during three periods of 2520 years each, reaching 
from the creation and fall of the first Adam, to 
the final coming of the Second Adam, "the Lord 
from heaven," seems to be contained in Hosea vi. 

2 : "After two days will he revive us : in the 
third day will he raise us up, and we shall live 
in his sight." At the end of the second day 
from the creation, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the 
Jewish monarchy (2 Chron. xxxvi. 10 ; Ezek. xxi. 
25) ; in the early part of the third period there 
was a partial revival of their nationality in the 
return from Babylon under Zerubbabel, a descen- 
dant of David's son Nathan ; near the end of the 



456 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

third year of weeks of years they will be raised 
up from the valley of the dry bones (Ezefc xxxvii. 
1-14), and after the third day they will live in the 
sight, and under the reign of the ' true Heir of 
David's throne. "And David my servant shall be 
king over them ; . . . and they shall dwell in 
the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, 
wherein your fathers have dwelt ; and they shall 
dwell therein, even they, and their children, and 
their children's children forever : and my servant 
David shall be their prince for ever. . . . And 
I will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for 
evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with 
them ; yea, I will be their God, and they shall be 
my people." Ezek. xxvii. 24-27. 

Hence, as the great landmark from which to 
measure with the 2520 years we have the disrup- 
tion of the kingdom of Judah, which, accord 
ing to the computations of Hales, Rawlinson, 
and other able chronologists, took place in 
B. C. 597. 

So we may be assured that in A. D. 1923 (2520 - 
597 77= 1923) the Jewish Theocracy will be fully 
restored, and that then "he whose right it is" 
will come to occupy the throne of David His 
father, and to reign over the house of Jacob for- 
ever. 



THE KECOjtfSTRUCTKXN". 457 

"All hail the power of Jesus' name I 

Let angels prostrate fall ; 
Bring forth the royal diadem, 

And crown Him Lord of all. 
Ye chosen seed of Israel's race, 

Ye ransomed from the fall, 
Hail Him who saves you by His grace; 

And crown Him Lord of all." 

No. 7. 1853 years. The Grand Gallery's final 
testimony. "And it shall be for a sign and for a 
witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of 
Egypt : for they shall cry unto the Lord because 
of the oppressors, and he shall send them 
a Savior, and a great one, and he shall deliver 
them." 

In our study of the recovery and reconstruction 
of the world, we have noticed the progressive 
and final destruction of the Dragon, Beast and 
False Prophet ; the ascension of the Bride, the 
Lamb's Wife, to meet her heavenly Bridegroom ; 
the restoration of the Israelites to the land of 
their fathers ; and the return of the Lord Jesus 
Christ to reign over the earth. We have lastly 
to notice the descent to the earth of the resur- 
rected saints, who are to form the glorious ret- 
inue of King Immanuel, when He comes to es- 
tablish His Grand Millennial Kingdom, and 
who shall be the kings, princes, ministers of 
state, priests, judges, executive officers, and 



458 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

mighty men of valor, to surround the throne of 
the Lord in the New Jerusalem, and govern the 
world-wide domain of the "King of Kings and 
Lord of Lords." 

The period of the inauguration of Christianity 
in the place of Judaism began with the birth of 
Christ in B. C. 5, and ended with the overthrow 
of the Jewish state and the destruction of Jeru- 
salem in A. D. 70, and, according to the Grand Gal- 
lery's testimony, the inauguration of the reign of 
Jesus Christ in the place of the secular and 
ecclesiastical Antichrists, commenced with 
the terrible revolutions of their empire in A. D. 
1848, and will end with the complete overthrow 
of Romanism and the establishment of the New 
Jerusalem in A. D. 1923 (70 + 1853 = 1923). 

"And I saw the holy city New Jerusalem, com- 
ing down out of heaven, from God, prepared as a 
bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a 
great voice out of heaven, saying : Behold, the 
tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell 
with them, and they shall be his people, and God 
himself will be with them, their God. . . . 
Come hither, and I will show you the bride, the 
Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in spirit 
to a mountain, great and high, and showed me 
the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of 



THE BECCHSTSTRUCTIOIN-. 459 

heaven from God, having the glory of God." Rev. 
xxi. 2-11. 

"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, 
and the power of judging was given to them ; 
and I saw the souls of those who had been be- 
headed for the testimony of Jesus, and for the 
Word of God ; and of those who had not wor- 
shiped the beast, nor his image, and had not re- 
ceived his mark on their foreheads, nor on their 
hand : and they lived and reigned with Christ a 
thousand years." Rev. xx. 4. 

To this point, A. D. 1923, all the chief prophetic 
numbers converge, and here they end. Here is 
the glorious consummation of the divine plan 
for the recovery and reconstruction of the world. 
Now is "the time for restoring all things that 
God has spoken by the mouth of His holy pro- 
phets of ancient times ;" (Acts iv. 21) and that to 
which Christ referred in saying to His Apostles : 
"Verily I say to you, That in the restoration, 
when the Son of Man shall sit on his glorious 
throne, you also who have followed me, shall sit 
on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of 
Israel." Matt. xix. 28. 

Paradise is now restored. The New Jerusalem, 
far surpassing in splendor the beautiful cities de- 
stroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and Titus, is found- 



460 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

ed. The kingdom of heaven is established upoi 
the earth, in which are Abraham, Isaac and Ja- 
cob, the Apostles, martyrs, saints, and prophets, 
with Daniel, to whom the angel said : "But go 
thou thy way till the end be : for thou shalt rest, 
and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.' 
(Dan. xii. 13). That is in A. D. 1923, at the end of 
the 1290 and 1335 days, or prophetic years that 
the angel had just mentioned. 

"Alleluia, for the Lord God the Almighty 
reigns." "He shall reign from sea to sea ; from 
the river unto the ends of the earth." "All kings 
shall fall down before him, all nations shall serve 
him." "His name shall endure forever: His 
name shall continue as long as the sun : and men 
shall be blessed in him ; all nations shall call him 
blessed." "And blessed be his glorious name 
for ever ; and let the whole earth be filled witli 
his glory. Amen and Amen." 

And now, dear reader, "What think you of the 
Christ? whose son is He?" To the spiritually 
blind Pharisees, the man whose eyes Jesus had 
opened said : "Why, there is something wonder- 
ful in this, that you know not whence He is, and 
yet He has opened my eyes." 

It was truly a wonderful work to open the eyes 
of him who was born blind. But more wonder- 



THE EECONSTKUCTION. 461 

ful still is the work of "the Lion of the tribe oi 
Judah, the root of David," in opening the sealed 
mysteries of the divine prophecies, and even still 
more surprising is the infinite love of the Divine 
Father in giving to His erring, rebellious, and 
ungrateful children the present unmistakable 
warning to nee from the wrath of God that is 
coming upon the earth between the present time 
and A. D. 1923. 

"If any man worship the beast and his image, 
and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his 
hand, even he shall drink of the wine of the 
wrath of God, which is prepared without mixture 
in the cup of his indignation ; and he shall be 
tormented with fire and brimstone in the pres- 
ence of the Lamb ; and the smoke of their tor- 
ment ascends from age to age : and they who 
worship the beast and his image, and whoever 
receives the mark of his name, have no rest day 
or night." "Come out of her, my people, lest you 
become partakers of her sins, and lest you receive 
of her plagues. For her sins reach even to heaven, 
and God has remembered her iniquities." 

"These things are written that you may believe 
that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that 
by believing you may have life through his 
name." 



462 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 

4 'Christ is coming ! let creation 
Bid her groans and travail cease ; 

Let the glorious proclamation 
Hope restore and faith increase ; 

Christ is coming ! 
Come, thou blessed Prince of peace I 

Earth can now but tell the story 
Of Thy bitter cross and pain ; 

She shall yet behold Thy glory 
When Thou comest back to reign ; 

Christ is coming ! 
Let each heart take up the strain. 

Long Thy exiles have been pining, 
Far from rest, and home, and Thee ; 

But, in heavenly vesture shining, 
Soon they shall Thy glory see ; 

Christ is coming ! 
Haste the joyous jubilee. 

"With that 'blessed hope' before us, 
Let no harp remain unstrung ; 

Let the mighty advent chorus 
Onward roll from tongue to tongue • 

Christ is coming! 
Come Lord Jesus, quickly cornel" 

THE END. 



A TABLE. 463. 

J± TABLE 

Showing the Pages on which Coincidental Measurements are made, 
with the several Prophetic Numbers. 



1. Dan. vii. 25. "A time and times and the dividing of 

time." 159, 188 

2. Dan. viii. 14. -'Two thousand and four hundred days." 

402-7, 435-8 

3. Dan. ix. 24. "Seventy weeks." . . 36-8, 363-5, 375 

4. Dan. xii. 7. "A time, times and a half." . 441-5 

5. Dan. xii. 11. u A thousand two hundred and ninety days." 

321-2, 413, 430-5, 442-5,' 446 

6. Dan. xii. 12. "The thousand three hundred and five and 

thirty days." . . . . . 302-3, 310, 421-3 

7. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 10. A year. . . . . 452-6 

8. Ezek.- xxi. 25. A "day." 452-6 

9. Rev. ix. 5, 10. "Five months." .... 124 

10. Rev. ix. 15. "An hour, and a day, and a month, and a 

year." . . . 131 

11. Rev. xi. 2. "Forty-two months." . . 320, 414, 415 

12. Rev. xi. 3. "A thousand two hundred and sixty days." 

192. 239-9 

13. Rev. xi. 9, 11. "Three days and a half." . 189-192 

14. Rev. xii. 1. "A woman clothed with the sun." 57, 365- 

375, 381-8 

15. Rev. xii. 6. "A thousand two hundred and sixty days." 

192, 236-9 

16. Rev. xii. 14. "A time, and times, and half a time." 441 

17. Rev. xiii. 5. "Forty-two months." 192, 219, 236-241, 249, 

274-5, 277-281, 291-2, 298, 383-8, 447-451 

18. Rev. xiii. 18. "Six hundred and sixty-six." 151-4, 173-4 

19. The Great Pyramid's Grand Gallery. 337, 410,423-4. 

457-8 

20. The Great Pyramid's Queen's Chamber. . 310^tl3 
£1. The Planetary Perihelia 336,418,420 



A CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX, 

Showing the Date and Page of the Events indicated by the Pro- 
phetic Numbers, and the Great Pyramid of Egypt. 



B. C. 

606 Nebuchnezzar besieges Jerusalem, ... 59 

597 "AllJerusalem" carried away captive, . . 456 

588-9 Jerusalem destroyed, 402-3,412 

536 Cyrus' decree, 28,403-5,407 

519 Darius' decree, 29,406 

515 The Temple finished, 29, 406 

457 Artaxerxes' decree to restore Jerusalem, 30, 36-7, 364. 375 

434-6 
446 Nehemiah meets Hanani in Shushan, . 34, 375, 436 
445 Nehemiah goes to Jerusalem, . . 34, 375. 487 

442 Jerusalem is restored 438 

6 Gabriel appears to Zachariah and the Virgin Mary. 358 

381, 383 
5 John the Baptist is born in Hebron, . . 358,381 
5 Jesus Christ is born in Bethlehem, 358, 367, 381, 458 

A. D. 

26 His baptism in Jordan, . 36-7, 359, 364, 368, 385. 428 
30 His crucifixion, resurrection, ascension etc., 37. 359-365 

368-9, 386. 412. 424 
33 End of Jewish, beginning of Gentile times, 37, 55, 57-9 

200, 365, 369, 386-7, 423 

44 Herod's persecution, etc., .... 370-5,387 

45 Barnabas and Saul sent to the heathen, . 371-6,387 
70 Jerusalem destroyed by Titus, . . . 428, 458 

132 Bar-Cochab's revolt against the Romans, . . 413 



A CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX. 465 

A. D. 

135 Jews finally expelled from Jerusalem, . . 413 
274 or 275 Birth of Constantine I., . . . 367,381 
306 Constantine proclaimed Emperor. . . 189, 368. 38-5 
310 Death of Maximian, .... 369, 386, 424 
313 Edict of Milan, etc, 52, 57, 63, 138, 190-2, 204, 208, 313 

370-8, 386, 388 

324 Imperialism established, . . . 139,365,370-7 

325 Council of ISTicsea, 139, 387 

330 Constantinople dedicated, . . . 140, 377, 388 
337 Death of Constantine, ... 52, 63, 219, 236 

364 Goths called to arms, 70, 237 

378 The Emperor Valens slain, 237 

406 Barbarians conquer Gaul. 239 

476 Western Empire overthrown, . 59, 76-7, 87, 240-1, 249 

534 Vandals "plucked up,'' 80 

534 Belisarius threatens the Goths, . . 249.274-5,411 

552 Narses commander in Italy, . . . 82,95,274-5. 

553 Last Ostrogoth King slain, .... 94, 152 

554 Papal period begins, 83-4, 94-6, 103, 152, 274, 277-9, 303 

310, 381, 421, 446 

555 Pope Pelagius goes to Home, . . 104, 278, 310, 381 
567 Longinus succeeds Parses, . 83-4, 152, 274-5, 279- 

281, 421-2 

573 King Alboin slain, 84, 152, 274-5 

.588 Council of Chalcedon, .... 110-1, 451 
606-7 Phocas' grant to Boniface. III., 84, 116, 291-2, 303, 446 
606 Mohammed enters cave of Hira, . . 103, 116, 413 
609 Mohammed preaches in Mecca, . . 116-7,124,414 

622 Mohammedan Hegira US, 430 

628 King of Persia humbled, .... 297,302 
632 Death of Mohammed, .... 119, 320, 443 

632 Arabia conquered, 119, 443 

633-9 Syria and Palestine conquered, . 120-3. 320, 414 
636 Battles of Yarmouk and Cadesia, 119, 319-321 , 429, 431 
636-651 Conquest of Persia, ... 120, 431, 442-5, 



466 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBERS. 

A. D. 

639-641 Conquest of Egypt, .... 120. 415. 444 

663 Pope Vitalian orders Latin used, . . . 451 

681 Sixth (Ecumenical Council, .• 84. 113, 204.447-451 

756 Bevolt in Spain, 124 

1076 Jerusalem taken by Turks, .... 128, 131 

1209 Franciscans founded, 152 

1210 Franciscans confirmed, 154 

1210 Pope Innocent III., . . . 84,150-8.173-8,188 

1210 Massacre of the Waldenses and Jews, . . 1 HO. 177 

1223 Franciscans first of Mendicants, . . . ' . 154 

1229 Inquisition founded, 156 

1461 Byzantine Empire overthrown, .... 130-1 

1516 Erasmus prints New Testament, . . . 180,383 

1516 Zwingli preaches the Gospel, .... 383 

1517 Luther reads his Theses, 182, 384 

1548 * The Interim enforced, 190,385-6 

1552 Maurice of Saxony, . . 187-191-2,211-3,386,424 

1555 Diet of Augsburg, . . 187-192,204-213,231,387 

1566 Solyman the Magnificent dies, . . . 211,388 

1572 Massacre of St. Bartholomew's, . . . 215. 388 

1578 Queen Elizabeth's charter, , 236, 441 

1579 Union of Utrecht, 219. 236 

1606 Plymouth Company chartered, .... 237 

1620 Puritans sail for America, 230-8 

1648 Peace of Westphalia, . . , . 223.228.239 

1718 The Quadruple Alliance, . . . 229. 240-1. 24!) 

1776 Declaration of Independence, 249, 258, 275. 282. 492. 412 

1777 Congress adopts Articles of Confederation, . . 403 
1794 Napoleon made Brigadier General, ... 275 

1796 Napoleon invades Italy, . . . 267.274-5.277-9 

1797 The Pope ruined, 275-9 

1808-9 Papal dominions seized, . . 275.280-1.422.446 

1815 Fall of Napoleon, 258. 271-5 

1829 Turkey humbled, 404 

1846 Sir Moses Montefiore, 405-7 



A CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX. 467 

A. D. 

1848 Kevolutions in Europe, . . 285, 292, 407, 423, 458 
1848-9 Pope's power overthrown, .... 290-2, 446 
1866 Austria defeated by Prussia, .... 294 

1870 The great Vatican Council, 304-9 

1870 Prance defeated by Prussia, . . . . 295-309 

1870 The Pope's temporal power abolished, 200, 301-12, 421, 446 

1871 Victor Emanuel comes to reside in Rome, . 310, 408 
1874-5 Turkish troubles begin, . . ... 314 
1878 Berlin and Anglo-Turkish Treaties, 317-822, 407, 413 

The author believes that the prophecies indicate the 
following events to occur : 
1881 Turks loose control of Jerusalem, . 321,338,413-4 
1883 Papal " magistemum " abridged, ... 422 
1883 The First Resurrection, . . • . . 304, 416-424 
1894 Further affliction upon the Turks, ... 430 
1908 Palestine restored to the Israelites, . . . 431-6 
1923 The Jewish Theocracy established, . . 304,438-462 
1923 The beginning of the Millennial Reign of Christ with 
His Saints upon the Earth, . . 60, 204, 438-462 



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fare. Especial attention is given to the elucidation of the sub- 
ject of 

Till] G REAT PYRA M 1 1> OF EG Y PT, 

Believing as we do, that this is a monument embodying scien- 
tific truths together with a perfect Chronological record from 
A dtim down to the present time and beyond. The subject of 
CHEIST'S SECOND COMING is also discussed, with a vie* 
to the preparation of the Church for that great and near event. 
N"o Earnest Christian should be without " Our Rest." The 
Terms are only One Dollar a year in advance. Illustrated. 
WILSON & JONES, 188 Monroe Street, Chicago, 111. 



ON THE GREAT PYRAMID OF EGYPT. 

The Great Pyramid of Egypt- By "Philo Israel," of England, 
Price, 20 cents,. 

Gleanings from the Great Pyramid, with Diagrams, by J. E. 
Norman. Price 20 cents. 

The Great Pyramid of Egypt, the Lord's Pillar of Witness. By 
Matthew Lawson. Price 30 cents. 

Scientific and Religions Discoveries in the Great Pyramid 
of Egypt. 64 pages. Price 25 cents. 

The Pillar of Witness, a Scriptural View of the Great Pyramid, 
by late Commander B. W. Tracy, R. N. Price 60 cts. 

A Miracle in Stone. By Dr. Seiss; being a scries of lectures on 
the Great Pyramid of Egypt. 2-"0 pages, cloth, §1.25". 

Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid. By Prof. Piazzi SmytJu 
Astronomer Royal for Scotland. Illustrated, $6.00. Fourth edition. 

■ The Egyptian Pyramids; an Analysis of a Great Mystery. By 
Everett W. Fish, M. D* 165 pages, cloth; illustrated. Price $1.00. 

A Supplement to the Miracle in Stone. This is invaluable to 
those who possess the first edition of the Miracle in Stone. Price, 40 cts. 

The Mystery of Bible Dates solved by the Great Pyramid. Win. 
Rowbottom, England. Price, $1.00, 76 pages octavo. Cloth. Price $1.00. 

Photographic Views of the Great Pyramid of Egypt, on a sheet lOx 
12 inches. On the back is printed a diagram of the interior of the Pyra- 
mid, with explanation. Price, only 25 cents. 

The French Metric System, or the Battle of the Standards. A. 
discussion of the comparative merits of the Metric System and the 
Standards of the Great Pyramid. By Charles Latimer. Cloth, 50 cents ; 
paper, 25 cents. 

Philitis : or Solution of the Mystery which for 4000 years has 
shrouded the Great Pyramid in Egypt. By Charles Casey. 
Fifth Edition-Illustrated-Revised and Enlarged. Price 75 cts. 



ISP 50 Sample copies of Our Rest sent on receipt 
of ten cents. 

Parties who are desirous of procuring any of 
the foregoing works will please address their 
orders as follows : 

Wilson & Jones, 

Book DE*ia.Tol±ssli.e:rss, 

188 MONROE ST., CHICAGO, IJLJj. 



PRICE ONLY 25 CENTS. 




ASTRONOMICAL ETIOLOGY 



STAR PROPHECIES 

CONCERNING 

COMING DISASTERS 



ON THE EARTH FROM 



1881 to 1885. 



By M. L KNAPP, M, D„ and others. 



CHICAGO: 

THOMAS WILSON, Publisher, 

188 Monroe Street. 



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